Naruto GX Red Moon
by AnonymousGX
Summary: When Jaden and Alexis attended the proctor duels as the Duel Academy Representatives, they saw two unusual duelists with new cards nobody else had seen before. One had Pink hair, the other Blond. Who are these two, how did they get here, and what are they searching for?
1. Duel 1: Sakura vs Proctor Long

**Here I am! Here's my half-story that my co-writer (OK, he wrote most of it and I supplied decks and characterization) published then gave away.**

**This duel was made possible by two usernames I own on Duelingnetwork. If you want to help instead, review or PM me. I'd prefer a PM, since I can then tell you what deck to design.**

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**Disclaimer for all chapters: Same as before, if I owned it, I would try to make money off of it. But since I don't, I have to just let my fantasies free on this website. I don't own anything, and should not have to repeat myself.**

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**Okay! Two more things for me to go over.**

**Before each round (every two turns, one by each player), I'll have a centered post reviewing the duel process.**

**For an example:  
Duelist Name: Life Points, Hand Size, Spells and Traps 'Active' /Set, Field Spell 'Active' or Set, Monsters 'Face Up (pos and anything else)' /Set  
Naruto: LP 9,001, H 0, S/T 'Swords of Revealing Light (2/3)' /2, F 1, M 'Arcana Force 0 - The Fool (Def, Tails)' /1**

**In the above example, Naruto has 9,001 Life Points, no cards in his hand, Swords of Revealing Light (which has been active for 2 of the opponents end phases), two set Spells or Traps, 1 set Field spell, Arcana Force 0 - The Fool in defense mode and with it's Tails effect, and 1 set monster.**

**Also, if you see (2600) in between the paragraphs, it's telling you the current values of importance for the monsters in question. If the monster is in attack mode, then the number refers to atk points. If it's in defense mode, it applies to def. If it looks like (2600 + 200 = 2800), then the additional atk/def bonuses or deficits are calculated, then applied.**

* * *

Jaden Yuki leaned heavily on the rail looking out on the current list of examinees that would either be joining he and his classmates or going home by the end of the day and wait another year. As the lead ranked duelist of Slifer he and representatives from each dorm both male and female would sit and preside over the duels mostly to let the other dorm mates know who would be joining them this coming year. The only other Slifer red with him was a girl he only met once in passing who was currently sitting with her parents further down. He sighed yep it was official he was bored to tears waiting for the first duels to start. His boredom however was preemptive by a gentle giggle to his left glancing in that direction he spotted easily the most beautiful girl he ever laid eyes on both physically and emotionally of course he never state that aloud he needed to keep his façade after all. Her name Alexis Rhodes proclaimed Queen of the Obelisk Blue dorms. Not her proclamation, she could care less about the title but it fit none the less. "Bored already, Jaden?"

"You know it, why all this ceremony before getting to the good stuff," the auburn haired boy asked. "I want to see some sweet dueling action."

"Mostly to organize everything, you missed it when you came in late because you slept in, remember," she smiled.

The E-Hero duelist pouted slightly, "Not my fault my alarm didn't go off that morning and I was so psyched for it too," he turned looking at the next group of potential students enter it was in this crowd he spotted two that stuck out among the others, one was a blonde haired boy with strange whisker like marks on his cheeks, deep blue eyes, and dressed in a dark orange and black outfit. Standing next to him with her fingers intertwined with the blonde kid, as a girl in a red and beige shirt, denim skirt, and short black boots, she had short bubble-gum pink hair and bright jade green eyes. However he saw something in them. "Hey, Lex that girl with the pink hair and the blonde next to her, wanna bet they got some cool dueling skills."

Alexis glanced at the two Jaden preferred to, at first glance she didn't see much to them aside the fact that they were a couple. It wasn't unusual anymore to see such a thing right out of junior high school. But she tossed that observation aside for the moment to judge them as she would an opponent, the pink haired girl at first glance was nothing special except for the fact that she had an aura about her that screamed medical training and a sharp mind, _uses either a healing or burn deck maybe both at least that would be my first guest I could be dead wrong._ She then glances at the blonde, vacant expression on the surface but what she could read in his demeanor under the false smile was a highly complex mind and would change a strategy on the fly in a second. _Unpredictable no telling what kind of deck he'll use, whatever it is I pity the opponent he has, such a thirst to prove himself in his demeanor alone, not unlike Jaden._ She smiled faintly at that analogy. "Good eyes, Jaden."

The auburn haired boy smiled, "Can't wait to see them duel."

* * *

Sakura and Naruto were told to sit and wait till their name's were called to duel a proctor for their practical exam both of their nerves were getting frazzled as the time went on. Judging by the names ahead of them Proctors were calling them in alphabetic order and there were eight dueling arenas spread around the gymnasium with eight different duels going on at any given time. Almost in wonder, Sakura saw all the different proctors and decktypes, and got nervous. She saw a duelist or two that used cards her deck would have trouble against, and went through her cards.

Naruto, seeing how nervous she was, put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Sakura-chan, you'll do great! You have cards nobody else has ever seen!"

"But what if I didn't bring the right cards? What if one of the ones I'm not used to makes me lose?"

"You won't lose. You're one of the smartest people I know. If it wasn't for your help, I would never have understood my deck!"

**"****Would Haruno, Sakura please report to dueling arena 3 to begin your practical exam!**" the PA announcer called out.

"Well, here I go. Wish me luck!"

"With all the luck I have, I think some already rubbed onto you!"

* * *

Alexis winced at the proctor Sakura had drawn, "Proctor John Long, dang he's tough I had him when I did my practical."

"He any good?" Jaden asked.

"Yes he runs a Custom Fish Deck. Even though it's been approved by the directors, it's a good one," Alexis replied as the duo watched Sakura step onto the arena and stand across from the proctor. He was dressed in a light blue slacks, white Obelisk long coat with the dark blue trim, was bald with a Mandarin(Iron Man's main villain) style goatee and mustache combo.

* * *

Proctor John Long was a practical individual he believe in duelist that had merit as such many of the duelist he had faced in the ten years since Duel Academy had been established, he's seen great careers rise and shine brightly. He has kept tabs on each student he had passed the most recent he had been Alexis Rhodes, he found her skills to be great and though many would disagree with her choice of fiancée, he did not Jaden Yuki had proved himself to be above some of the Obelisk blue male students. _Proves that ye Dr. Crowley brain has gone to Davy Jones locker. Not putting the boy at least in Ra Yellow had been a bad set course, y'ar. _Stepping foot across from him was a rather pale skinned girl, with shoulder length coral pink hair, bright jade green eyes. That to his surprise showed a lot of pain in those eyes, and not such for the death of her parents, no this was something more like she had been in a war. _But this lassie, let's see how well she'll sail._

**Duel!**

**Sakura: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
****John Long: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0****  
**

"I'll go first, Draw!" Sakura said, confident. Looking at her hand, she didn't see anything she could use. But the drawn card... "For my turn, I'll play Pandaborg in attack mode. I end my turn." (1700)

John Long then took his turn. "My turn, I draw! First, I'll be come out of port and enter A Legendary Ocean. By casting off a level from all water monsters on our fields and in our hands, all Water monsters on the field gain 200 atk and defense points!"  
_This could be bad, _thought Sakura. _He can now normal summon Lvl 5 Water monsters without a tribute. This could get dicey._  
John Long wasn't done with just a Field Spell. "I'll then be playin Needle Sunfish, in Atk mode." (1500 + 200 = 1700) "I'll set two cards face-down, and end my turn. Now show me if you deserve to even be my cabin girl, y'ar."

**Sakura: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
****John Long: LP 4,000, H 3, S/T 0/2, F 'A Legendary Ocean', M 'Needle Sunfish (Atk)'**

"My turn, Draw. I activate Card Trader. During my standby phase, if I don't like a card in my hand, I can exchange it for another in my deck. Now for my Battle Phase. Pangaborg, attack Needle Sunfish!"  
"Not so fast you scalawag! I be surfacing my trap, Gravity Bind! While this here trap is surfaced, no monsters with 4 or more levels can attack!"  
Sakura quickly realises the second problem that trap poses. _Thanks to that field spell, all his level 4 monsters can still attack_ "I end my turn."  
"Why did ye hesitate, land lubber?" John Long asked. "If you want to sail in more turbulent waters, you'll have to come better prepared. Draw! I summon Flyfang, in atk mode!" (1600) "I then play Aqua Jet, which gives him 1000 more knots of speed and attack." (1600 + 1000 = 2600) "Flyfang! Attack her Pandaborg!"  
The great winged shark dove under the 'water' of the floor, then attacked Pandaborg from below, dealing Sakura 900 points of damage. However, before the attack was completed and Pandaborg destroyed, Flyfang kept rising into the air til he was out of sight.  
John Long didn't seem surprised. "Once he inflicts damage, he be banished til me next Standby Phase."  
With her monster finally destroyed, Sakura made her move. "Upon his destruction, I activate Pandaborg's effect. Since he was destroyed in battle, I can pay 800 life points..."  
"Not so fast matey! I surface the trap Oh F!sh! I can shuffle a banished Fish-Type monster into my deck to negate an Effect Monster's effect. And look what's waiting to be reeled in, but my Flyfang!" Flyfang descended from above and entered his deck, negating Pandaborg's effect. "But did ye forget about Needle Sunfish, coral hair? Attack her directly!" Said fish opened it maw and fired many large spikes at Sakura, inflicting 1700 more life points. With that, I'll pull into port."

**Sakura: LP 600, H 5, S/T 'Card Trader'/0, F 0, M 0/0  
John Long: LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 'Gravity Bind'/0, F 'A Legendary Ocean', M 'Needle Sunfish (Atk)'**

Feeling scared, Sakura took her turn. "I draw, and use Card Trader's effect." _Please give me a good card..._ _YES! _"First I'll play Psi-Station. This card lets me pay 500 life points to increase a Psychic-Type's level by 1 and it's attack by 300. I summon Hushed Psychic Cleric, who, by her effect, swtiches to Defense Position." (2100) "I activate Psi-Station, by paying 500 LP, to make her into a lvl 4 monster with 300 more attack. I now use her effect, by discarding one card, I can target one Psychic-type monster in my grave. I choose to target Esper Girl!"  
John Long was surprised by this move. "When did that gal enter Davy Jones Locker?"  
Sakura looked at him with an amused look. "When I discarded her, when else? I now banish her, but don't worry, she'll be coming back later. I'll set one card face-down, and end my turn."  
John Long was getting worried. Psychic-Type monsters were supposed to be a small archetype that focuses on paying and regaining LP. Did they release new cards? "Draw!" Looking at his hand, he has nothing strong enough to take on that Cleric. "I'll play Shocktopus in Atk mode," (1600 + 200 = 1800) "set one card, and end my turn.

**Sakura: LP 100, H 2, S/T 'Card Trader' 'Psi-Station' / 1, F 0, M 'Hushed Psychic Cleric (Def, Lv4)'/0  
John Long: LP 4,000, H 1, S/T 'Gravity Bind'/1, F 'A Legendary Ocean, M 'Needle Sunfish (Atk)' 'Shocktopus (Atk)' /0**

Sakura, seeing as he didn't Tribute Summon, regains some hope. _If he really doesn't use level five or above monsters, I may have a shot at this._ "I draw. I set one monster and end my turn."  
Seeing her lighthouse regain it's light gave John Long goosebumps. "It's my turn lassie! Draw!" _A Legendary Ocean, not a good draw for now._ "Shocktopus, attack her submerged monster!" Shocktopus grappled the set monster, and revealed it to be a pink lady.  
"I activate the effect of Serene Psychic Witch." Sakura caled out. "I can banish one Physchic-Type monster from my deck if it has 2000- atk, and I choose Pandaborg."  
"Interesting monster to choose when you have few LP to spare. I end my turn."

**Sakura: LP 100, H 2, S/T 'Card Trader' 'Psi-Station' /1, F 0, M 'Hushed Psychic Cleric (Def, Lv4)'/0  
John Long: LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 'Gravity Bind'/1, F 'A Legendary Ocean,' M 'Needle Sunfish (Atk)' 'Shocktopus (Atk)' /0**

Sakura drew her card. "During my Standby Phase, due to the effect of my Witch, Pandaborg gets summoned to my field." With that, the second cybernetic panda appeared onto the field. "I now summon Silent Psychic Wizard." With those cards on the field, Sakura smirked. "I now will do something you've never seen before. I Overlay my three level four monsters."  
John Long was stunned. He had never heard of putting one card on _top_ of another! "Overlay?!"  
Sakura grinned. "Yes. With them, I'll build the overlay network. XYZ summon, Number 69: Heraldic Emblem! And I'll play him in attack mode!" (2600)  
John Long took a long look at the new monster and the black card. Apparently, everyone else in the audience were as well, shifting their attention from other duels. Even the other proctors and duelists stopped to look at the large new monster. "XYZ Summon? Interesting card..."  
Sakura now looked like the Cheshire Cat. "Now, the unique thing about XYZ monsters is that they don't have Levels, but Ranks."  
John Long was now scared for his LP. "No levels?! Does that mean..."  
"That's right, it can attack! But first, I'll play Future Glow. This card lets me banish a Psychic monster and count its levels. My Psychic-Type monsters then get a 200 atk boost for each level it has."  
John Long tried to remember the levels of the monsters she had in her grave. _She'll probably choose Pandaborg, it has 4 levels._  
But Sakura didn't. "I'll banish Serene Psychic Witch, which gives Number 69 600 Atk points." (2600 + 600 = 3200) "I'll now play Solidarity. Since Pandaborg is still in the grave, all my Psychic-Type monsters gain 800 more attack!" (3200 + 800 = 4000)  
"4000 atk points?! Not bad for a girl with a brow as wide as a dock."  
Glaring, Sakura started yelling "For that, you'll pay! My Number 69 attacks your Needle Sunfish!" With that battle cry, Number 69 fired a bolt of red energy straight up, which then fired a large black beam with red lightning at his monster.  
Screaming in pain, John Long got back up after losing 2300 Life Points. "When my Needle Sunfish is destroyed, the attacking monster loses 500 Atk." Sure enough, some of the Sunfish's needles rose from the grave and stuck to Number 69. (4000 - 500 = 3500)  
Sakura looked at the needles, and decided they weren't important. "I end my turn."

John Long: "Draw." _Blast! I can't use this monster here! Wait, I can!_ "I first normal summon Double Shark, then activate Fish Depth Charge! By tributing Double Shark, your Number 69 is destroyed!"  
Shocked, Sakura watched her monster get taken out by charging fish. "No!"  
"Yes! Shocktopus, end this duel!" With that, Shocktopus charged towards Sakura, it's flailing tentacles wrapped in electricity.  
Desperate, Sakura played her move. "I activate a trap, Brain Hazard! This card lets me special summon my banished Serene Psychic Witch! And Future Glow doesn't lose it's attack boost." (1400 + 600 + 800 = 2800)  
Caught off guard, John Long realized what that meant. _Darn it! I can't switch Shocktopus to defense mode because it declared an attack already! So that's why she banished her Witch. Since it's a level three monster, it can attack. If she summons a monster, it's game over. She's more seaworthy than I gave her credit for._ "I end my turn."

**Sakura: LP 100, H 2, S/T 'Card Trader' 'Psi-Station' 'Future Glow (Level 3)' 'Solidarity (Psychic)' 'Brain Hazard (Serene Psychic Witch)' /0, F 0, M 'Serene Psychic Witch (Atk, Brain Hazard)'/0  
John Long: LP 1,700, H 2, S/T 'Gravity Bind'/1, F 'A Legendary Ocean', M 'Shocktopus (Atk)' /0**

On the verge of victory, Sakura smiled. "Draw!" _Darn it, not a monster! If I don't draw a monster, and he summons one, I lose by the effect of Shocktopus!_ "I activate Card Trader!" After an intense shuffling, Sakura drew her card. "I summon another Serene Psychic Witch!" (1400 + 600 + 800 = 2800) "Battle, my Witches! First attack Shocktopus, then attack directly!" Each Witch raised the blaster-like things in each hand, and fired away at their targets. With a sense of dignity, the Sea Captain stood til the last shot before falling face-first in defeat.

**Sakura wins!**

"Not bad lass. After a major flailing with the cat, you stood up and turned the ship around. For your decent performance, I place you in the crew of Ra Yellow."

"Congratulations Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, running up to her and kissing her, "You did great, taking him out in two turns!"

"Yes," Sakura said. "But he almost got me in the first two turns. I also took a major risk with Psi-Station."

* * *

"Wow!" Jaden said, reeling from that duel. "It was so close, but so sweet! I can't wait to battle some more of those x-seed monsters!"

"I believe she said excees," Alexis corrected him, "But it is interesting, to sacrifice multiple monsters to bring out a stronger one. Did you notice how it had glowing rings, the same number of rings as the number of used monsters? I wonder what they could be for..."

"Well, if she didn't use them," Jaden said, "Maybe her boyfriend will!"

* * *

**That's Game!**

**If you want to help, review or PM. I'm planning on using proper monsters only, so no fake cards or anime/manga only cards, even if it's the Nine-Tailed Fox card from the manga (I really want to use it, but it's a weak card in a non-existent archetype. Kurama would be insulted if he saw how weak it was).**

**I'm also planning on including myself as an OC, using either the Nordics, the Duel Dragons, the Incans, or alternate between the two. Anybody got a good anagram for "AnonymousGX Duelist"? You don't have to use all the letters. I will put up a poll, asking which archetypes I/he should use.**

**Peace out!**

**AnonymousGX**


	2. Duel 2: Naruto vs Proctor Wolf

**OK guys. I think I have a block of chapters for Sage Mode and Magic, but am going to read ahead a couple chapters to make sure I know what I have to include and what I can change/skip. Meanwhile, here's chapter 2!**

**For all these duels, I'm invoking a 1 Ban rule. Only 1 banned card is allowed in each deck. I may extend this to include an extra limited/semi-limited card, but I'll have to wait and see. Also, since this whole season uses only 1 Mirror Force and 1 Swords of Revealing Light per deck, those cards are treated as Limited.**

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**There's a poll up for the next duel. I don't know who should duel though. Help me choose!**

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Soon after Sakura's duel, lunch was served for participants not dueling and preserved for those who were. After a half an hour which allowed the proctors to eat as well, the duels resumed. A few duelists who had already finished left to go home, but most went into the stands to watch the rest of duels. A few of the smart ones had noticed that Sakura, the girl who used the strange black stacking card, was with another boy, and were hoping he'd show off a black card too. But imagine their surprise when a second boy joined their group.

Sakura and Naruto were surprised when this redhead joined them too. "Hey Sakura, hey Naruto. Sakura, I saw your duel, and you did a good job, even if you couldn't use the effect of that new card Naruto's family company made. Using an XYZ monster to bypass level restrictions, that will catch many duelists by surprise!"

"What are you doing here Daniel?" Naruto asked this boy, "I thought you were supposed to take a few of the new decks to the pros and show off there."

"You see," Daniel explained, "my sponsors, your family, decided that the best way to spread the popularity of these cards is not to show them off to the older generation, but to the new budding one. So here I am, dueling amateur decks to get into an academy. If we all manage to get into the three different dorms, we could be showing off our card's abilities right and left all over campus!"

"**Namikaze Uzumaki, Naruto report to Arena number 3 for your practical exam!**" the PA announcer. **"Xonymus, Daniel report to Arena number 12 for your practical exam!"**

"YAHOO! It's our turn, believe it!" Naruto shouts, grabbing his duel disk, shuffling his desk and slipping it into the card reader. Sakura just shook her head, smiling faintly as he bent down and kissed her on the cheek again before heading to his assigned arena.

"Yes it is," Daniel replied, already prepared for the duel to come. "Last one to win has to give up one of their new cards!"

"You're on! My cards will wipe the floor with my proctor's monsters!" With that, both boys started running for their arenas. Luckily for them, they were about the same distance from the bench they were sitting on. Sighing at their competitiveness, Sakura followed Naruto to watch her boyfriend's duel.

* * *

Alexis's eyebrow rose at the name, "Namikaze, I wonder if he's related to Minato Namikaze."

"Who's he?" the auburn haired boy asked.

"Minato Namikaze has become Industrial Illusion's new darling alongside his wife Kushina. Those two are running a home-based company, where they make cards they show to Pegasus. If Maximillion Pegasus likes them, he'll have them printed using his own factory, and gives the family a larger then normal percentage of the income. I heard that they were working on a new kind of card or two for duelists to use. They're said to make standard fusions obsolete, apparently like that excees summoning we saw Sakura use in her duel," she smiled sadly. "I guess its going to make your E-Heroes and my Cyber Blader fusion decks old news."

"Ain't no way Lex, your Cyber Bladers rock, same goes for my E-Heroes. They're just too sweet to die," Jaden smiled back to her putting a hand on her shoulder. He then turned back to watch Naruto's duel missing Alexis's face as she blushes. "But I was asking about the man Naruto has to duel. Who is he?"

Looking towards the arena, she saw the man's face become emotionless while turned away from Naruto. "I recognize him, he's Richard N. D. Wolf, the school's psychologist. He usually runs a Zombie Genesis deck, but he seems to have taken an interest in Naruto. I wonder which deck he'll use against him..."

* * *

Proctor Richard N. D. Wolf wasn't what many would consider the typical duelist at least in terms of passion, those lie elsewhere psychology to be in frank. Duel Academy had been a faster way to achieve his degree in this field, and was needed in dueling more than one would think. The public in general would never believe something as simple as a card game could cause mental trauma to anyone. But many have never been on the field during a duel, the simulated pain, the taunting and boasting eventually wears down a person's mental barriers allowing for something as bad as Post-Traumatic Disorder or psychotic episode. Richard had made it his mission in life to help those in the dueling world cope with these stresses. The best way he could do that was in these very exams. Weeding out the weaker mind individuals who could crack after leaving Dueling Academy, halting the Marik's and Bandit Keith's of the world.

Standing on the arena platform before was a prime of example of the unpredictability of his position. Looking at the blonde haired boy's written exam the boy was remarkably intelligent, having not only done the basic written formula's very well but he passed every single high level puzzle given to transfer students of a higher age level. _A remarkable young man, yet he comes off as a fool. His scores in the puzzles were higher than Zane Truesdale final scores._ Looking at Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, Richard was looking at several contradictions more so considering his father was Minato Namikaze, Pegasus's new right hand in the new Industrial Illusions. He looked up at the boy reading a lot of emotional pain in the blonde's eyes, far more than a boy his age should have. The same could be said for the boy's pink haired girlfriend, she held a lot of emotional pain as well, which seemed to be healing for both of them as long as they were close. _I'll need to schedule appointments for both of them if the boy passes his practical exam._ He walked up to the line of pre-made dueling decks and frowned none would give the boy a good challenge, _I guess I'll be using one of my personal decks for this duel in order to find out what is bothering the lad,_ he chuckled softly to himself another one of his talents was acting and using his Zombie style decks. In combination of his acting ability, he should be able to pierce through the boy's outer exterior to see the real boy on the inside. He began relaxing his face giving off a blank emotionless stare then using muscle control in his throat he would change his voice to sound dull and flat giving off a complete lifeless image. Stepping onto the arena platform he gazed at the whisker marked blonde

**Duel!**

**Naruto: LP 4,000 | H 5 | S/T 0/0 | F 0 | M 0/0  
Pr. Wolf: LP 4,000 | H 5 | S/T 0/0 | F 0 | M 0/0**

Naruto decided to kick this duel off. "Let's get this game going! Draw! I summon Inzektor Hornet in Attack mode!"  
Professor Wolf studied this card unblinkingly. _Inzektor. I haven't heard of this archetype. Is it one of those new ones that small company is making?  
_"But he won't be on the field for long," Naruto continued. "I use Insect Imitation to tribute it and summon an insect 1 level higher than him. Now... What card did I want again?"  
At this, Wolf almost facepalmed. _He doesn't know his own deck? He'll need more experience with it before he tries to defeat me.  
_"Oh yeah! Come out Inzektor Hopper! I now activate the effect of Hopper. You see, he's able to pick up the weapon of another Inzektor. I choose the Inzektor Hornet in my grave!" Hopper stooped down and equipped a weapon on the ground to his arm. Those that remembered Inzektor Hornet saw that this was the same drill-like thing on it's arm. "When Hopper is equipped to a monster, he gives it three more levels and all his attack and defense points! I'll then equip Hopper with Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber for 800 more attack!" In the same hand as the drill, a large sword appeared. (1700 + 500 + 800 = 3100) "I end my turn. Just try to beat my Insect Hero!"

"_Tell me boy, are you afraid of ghosts or zombies?" _Wolf asked in an emotionless tone.  
Naruto gazed at the man before him dressed in an Obelisk blue with white trim blazer. His face was completely blank and very death like, taking a nervous gulp. "N-N-NO I am not! Believe it!"  
"_We shall see, if the horrors from my zombie deck can bring forth your true fears,_" he drew a card looking at his hand. "_I activate Zombie World."_ With those words, a cemetery that looked like it belonged to the scariest movie ever appeared. "_All monsters on the field and in their tombs become Zombie monsters, and neither player can tribute summon monsters that aren't Zombie-Type."  
As creepy as this place is, _Naruto thought, _it has no effect on my playing style, except for my Insect Imitation.  
"I now activate Gold Sarcophagus. This card lets me banish 1 card from my deck to add to my hand 2 turns later. I choose Painful Choice." _When that card activated, a golden coffin rose from a tomb next to Pr. Wolf, the card chosen from the deck turned towards Naruto and showed it's face before entering the coffin, then the coffin sank into the ground._ "I'll lay to rest one monster in defense position, and end my turn."_

**Naruto: LP 4,000 | H 3 | S/T 'Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber (Inzektor Hopper)' 'Inzektor Hornet (Inzektor Hopper)'/0 | F 0 | M 'Inzektor Hopper (Inzektor Sword - ZektKaliber, Inzektor Hornet)'/0  
Pr. Wolf: LP 4,000 | H 4 | S/T 0/0 | F 'Zombie World' | M 0/1**

"Back to me!" Naruto yelled, trying to mask his fear. "Time to get rid of this spooky cemetery. I activate Hornet's other effect! By sending him to the graveyard while he's equipped to a monster, he can destroy 1 card on the field. And I choose your ugly backyard!" Hopper dug the drill into the ground and activate it. Slowly, the whole field was covered in cracks and was destroyed. (3100 - 500 = 2600) "I can now use Hopper to re-equip himself with Hornet." (2600 + 500 = 3100)  
Wolf looked at the strange combo, four years ago he watched Crowler face down another hero themed deck and lost. _This is a rather positive omen if I've ever seen one._ _But let's see how far this boy can go._  
Naruto cheerfully entered his Battle Phase. "Now attack his monster!"  
_I take it back. He should have used Hornet to destroy my monster before attacking._

* * *

_Baka, _Sakura and Alexis thought, _you could have destroyed that monster, then attacked directly. _Meanwhile, Jaden was cheering on the attack, not noticing the error Naruto made.

* * *

Hopper jumped for the set card and pierced it with his sword. When the smoke cleared, Naruto's grin turned into a look of shock. Some kind of robed zombie with a scythe was still kneeling. "Wha! Why isn't it killed!"  
_"I'm afraid Spirit Reaper is truly Undead. He cannot die in battle."_  
Naruto then realized his mistake. "Then I'll just have to blast him with Hornet!" Hopper jumped over to Spirit Reaper and drilled it into destruction. "Your turn teach!"  
Professor Wolf almost grinned at the card he drew, but caught himself in time. _If he summons another Inzektor, he'll likely destroy my monster. But with this..._ "_I'll activate another Zombie World._"  
Naruto almost shrieked at seeing his zombified Hopper again. "Not again! I just got rid of that field!"  
_"I'll now protect it with Field Barrier. This prevents Zombie World from being destroyed or replaced. I'll lay down one monster to rest and end my turn."_

**Naruto: LP 4,000 | H 3 | S/T 'Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber (Inzektor Hopper)'/0 | F 0 | M 'Inzektor Hopper (Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber)'/0  
Pr. Wolf: LP 4,000 | H 3 | S/T 'Field Barrier'/0 | F 'Zombie World' | M 0/1**

Naruto, determined to send the nightmares away, drew his card. "I'll play Inzektor Centipede, in attack mode!" (1600) "He has the same equipping effect as Hopper, so let's give him Hornet first. Using Hornet's effect, your Field Barrier is destroyed! Now, when Centipede loses an equipped card, I can search out a card that has "Inzektor" in it's name. Now... Which card was that one again? ... Oh yeah! I choose Inzektor Dragonfly, who is added to my hand. Now Hopper, equip Hornet and destroy his field spell!" With those moves, both the bright dome and the graveyard were turned to rubble. "Now Centipede, attack his monster!" Centipede threw it's bladed shields, and they cut through the flipped monster. However, a pyramid remained behind. "What's that thing doing?!"  
_"More than just the Pyramid protects the mummified pharaoh. When Pyramid Turtle is destroyed, I can bring out another Zombie-type guardian, as long as it has less than 2000 defense."_ Slowly, the sides of the pyramid opened up to reveal... _"Come out, Pyramid Turtle."_  
"What is it, a Nested Doll? No matter, I'll just destroy it too! Attack Hopper!"  
_"This lets me summon a third monster. I choose King of the Skull Servants."_  
"What does that thing do? It has 0 attack!"  
_"It gains 1000 original attack for every Skull Servant in my graveyard. Feel dispair, knowing that your doom is at hand."_  
Naruto looked shaken at this thought. "1000 each! Isn't that a little much? But you don't have any in your grave right now..." _Wait a minute, that banished card! I know what it does!_ "I'll activate a second Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber, and equip it to Centipede. I end my turn."

Professor Wolf started his turn, disappointed in what he saw in this prospective student. _If he is to reveal his true self, I need better acting. _"_Draw. Since two turns have passed, the slumbering card shall rise into my hand._" The golden coffin returned and gave it's contents to the professor. "_I activate Painful Choice. Choose which card shall go to my hand, and which ones shall sleep in the grave."  
_Five cards appeared before Naruto, floating in the air. There was a King of the Skull Servants, a Skull Servant, and three The Lady in Wights. _Why would he choose only one Skull Servant? Are the rest in his hand? Bad luck for him, I'm not letting him send it to the grave! _"This is easy, I choose Skull Servant." When the cards were sent to the grave, the throne of King of the Skull Servants was sitting on rose as a pile of Skull Servants appeared below it. "Wait. Why did King of the Skull Servant's attack go up?"  
"_Your choice was predictable and hasty._" Wolf told him. "_When The Lady in Wight is sent to the grave, her name becomes 'Skull Servant'. If you don't bother to read cards you don't know, it's no wonder you'll become our new dead last Slifer Red._" Seeing a small reaction in Naruto, he guessed that the boy was teased or bullied for being the worst student in his hometown. But that information wasn't enough, so Wolf pushed it further "_That is, if you even qualify for the Academy. At this rate, you'll lose, and be separated from your friends, like that pink-haired girl watching our duel._" This made Naruto furious, but Wolf wasn't sure what taunt brought this upon him. "_I now play Book of Life. This card lets me summon a monster from my grave and banish another from yours. I summon my second King of the Skull Servants and banish your Inzektor Hornet!_"  
Naruto only gave a small movement to know he acknowledged what happened. He was almost blinded by fury, and could barely keep himself together as his key destruction card was removed from play.  
"_My Kings now attack your Inzektors._" Both Kings ordered their minions to attack and destroy the Inzektor monsters Naruto had out.  
"When Zektkalibers are sent to the grave, I can add one Inzektor monster from my grave to my hand." Naruto snarled, pulling his monsters out of the grave.  
"_I lay at rest one monster, and end my turn._"

**Naruto: LP 3,900 | H 4 | S/T 0/0 | F 0 | M 0/0  
Pr. Wolf: LP 4,000 | H 2 | S/T 0/0 | F 0 | M 'King of the Skull Servants (Atk 3000)' 'King of the Skull Servants (Atk 3000)' /1**

Naruto, still angry, started his turn. "Draw! I summon Inzektor Dragonfly. His effect lets me equip the Inzektor Ladybug from my hand to it." Dragonfly then reached for Naruto, and came back with what appeared to be a red dot on each forearm. "I use Ladybug's effect. By sending it to the graveyard, I can make Dragonfly level five." Both dots sunk into Dragonfly, and turned it into a level 5 monster. "When Dragonfly is unequipped, I can summon another Inzektor from my deck. I choose Centipede. I equip him with Ladybug, then use Ladybug to make him level 5." The same thing occured with Centipede, making him a level 5 monster as well. Before Wolf could muse over this strategy, Naruto barreled on. "Now Centipede lets me search for another card. I choose Inzektor Axe - Zektahawk. I now overlay my 2 level five monsters! With them, I'll build the overlay network. XYZ Summon! Come out to fight, Inzektor Exa-Stag!" (800)  
_So this is one of those black cards Long mentioned. _Wolf thought. _But why does it have only 800 atk points?  
_"Now for his ability. He can send one overlay unit to the grave to equip himself with a card from your field or graveyard. I'll choose one of your The Lady in Wights." Exa-Stag went over to Wolf, put the shield into his grave, then came out with the Lady's face as a crest. _"_I equip Exa-Stag with two Inzektor Axe- Zektahawks. They each give him 1000 atk." (800 + 1000 + 1000 = 2800) (3000 - 1000 = 2000) (3000 - 1000 = 2000) "Exa-Stag! Knock that King off his throne!"  
While Wolf was expecting some damage, he didn't expect some _real _damage. But sure enough, he got clipped hard by the rounded part of Exa-Stag's sheild and saw a rip or two on his suit. _Is he a Shadow Duelist? It can't be, you need a Millennium Item to start one, and they were lost with the Pharaoh Atem! _Getting over the small bruising, Wolf continued his move. "_When King of the Skull Servants is destroyed by battle, I can banish another King or a "Skull Servant" card from my graveyard to summon him back. I'll banish a Lady in Wight._" (2000 - 1000 = 1000) (2000 - 1000 = 1000)  
"I end my turn."

Professor Wolf was a little scared now. He didn't want to risk taking any more damage from this boy by attacking with his set Skull Servant in order to gain the advantage. If the damage was too much, he may lose due to falling unconscious. "_I'll set one monster, switch my Kings to defense position, and end my turn._"

* * *

Sakura saw the slight bruising on the proctor and knew something was wrong. _Oh no. Please don't tell me Naruto's losing it!_ _"_Naruto! Calm down!" Sakura yelled. "You need to relax! Don't let what he's saying rattle you! Remember, you're no longer that boy who graduated from the Academy. You are a hero, and the man I love."

"Listen to your girlfriend Naruto!" Daniel told the furious boy, "She's telling the truth. You have more friends than just her though. Even if we go to Duel Academy without you, I'll send emails and videos of what we are doing! We won't abandon or forget you, I promise."

Naruto seemed to hear them, and visibly calmed down. "Thanks Sakura-chan, I almost lost it again, didn't I?" After giving her a reassuring smile, Naruto started turning back to the duel, but then quickly looked back towards where his friend was sitting. "_DANIEL_! When did you get here?!" Sakura was surprised as well; she didn't notice him sit down next to her.

"About the time the first King came out. I won my duel already, and am an Obelisk Blue!" Daniel cheered, pumping his fist into the air. "What can I say? I had a very lucky hand. It was over on the third total turn, even though Crowler got all three Ancient Gear Golems out on the field to attack during the second turn. By the way, if you don't win against this guy in two more of your turns, you're gonna owe me another of your new cards!"

"There's no way I'm going to take THAT long! If I beat him before my second end phase, we don't owe each other anything, got it!" Getting a nod from Daniel, Naruto turned back to Wolf. "Sorry I lost my head. I'm back now, and I'm going to defeat you quickly!"

_I fear I may have overstepped my bounds in the way I've chose my words, however it shows that he had been at least verbally abused early in his life, if not neglected. It is amazing though I've never seen such a deep passionate love before, it's such a beautiful sight._ Keeping his face neutral he address the blonde. "_We'll see."_

* * *

"Wait a second," Jaden said, "Did that boy just say he won AFTER Crowler summoned THREE Ancient Gear Golems? How could I have missed such an epic duel!" Remembering the hard time he had against just one, Jaden was downright depressed he missed seeing three, on the field together, being defeated in just one turn.

"I also wonder how that boy, I think they announced his name is Daniel, won that fast and defended against the Golem's attacks," Alexis, who also missed that duel, tried to comfort Jaden, "But what is more curious is how Naruto will manage to win this duel."

* * *

**Naruto: LP 3,900 | H 3 | S/T 'The Lady in Wight (Inzektor Exa-Stag)' 'Inzektor Axe Zektahawk (Inzektor Exa-Stag) x2'/0 | F 0 | M 'Inzektor Exa-Stag (Inzektor Axe - Zektahawk x2, The Lady in Wight)'/0  
Pr. Wolf: LP 3,200 | H 2 | S/T 0/0 | F 0 | M 'King of the Skull Servants (Atk 3000)' 'King of the Skull Servants (Atk 3000)' /2**

When Naruto saw his draw, he grinned. _Looks like I can bring out THAT monster this time._ "I summon Inzektor Centipede, and equip him with Ladybug from my grave. I'll then use Ladybug to make Centipede Level four." Unlike last time, only one of the dot weapons sunk into Centipede, making it only a lvl 4 monster. The other dot entered the graveyard. "I now use Centipede's effect to search out another Inzektor card. I choose Inzektor Giga-Mantis. I'll then use Giga-Mantis' effect to equip itself from my hand to Centipede." Giga-Mantis then appeared on the field to give it's large wrist-blades to Centipede. "Giga-Mantis' effect turns Centipede's original atk to 2400. My monsters, destroy his Kings!" With two consecutive attacks, Hopper and Centipede took down the rulers.  
Wolf considered reviving them, but realized they'd be too weak to handle anything Naruto may throw at him. He was, however, curious as to why Naruto decided to only increase Centipede's level by two.  
Seeing that the Kings didn't return, Naruto gave a silent cheer. "I'll end my turn. Try to stop me, teach!"  
When Professor Wolf saw his draw, he knew he couldn't make a counter this turn. "I'll set one card face-down, and end my turn"

* * *

"Last turn Naruto!" Daniel cried. "Make it count or I'm getting the card I know you're going to bring out, as well the other one!"

"There's no way I'm giving you those two!" Naruto all but snarled. "I'm keeping them, and I'm going to win this turn!"

The students that heard that exchange, Jaden and Alexis included, wondered what cards they were talking about. But Alexis also wondered about how Daniel knew which card Naruto wanted to get out. Did he use those new card types too? But even then, how he knew which new card to guess left her clueless. Was it how Naruto used Ladybug to become level four rather than level 5?

* * *

**Naruto: LP 3,900 | H 3 | S/T 'Inzektor Axe - Zektkahawk (Inzektor Exa-Stag) x2' 'Inzektor Giga-Mantis (Inzektor Centipede)' 'The Lady in Wight (Inzektor Exa-Stag)'/0 | F 0 | M 'Inzektor Exa-Stag (Inzektor Sword - Zektahawl)' 'Inzektor Centipede (Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber)'/0  
Pr. Wolf: LP 3,200 | H 2 | S/T 0/0 | F 0 | M 'King of the Skull Servants (Atk 3000)' 'King of the Skull Servants (Atk 3000)' /2**

Naruto confidently starts his turn. "I DRAW! I'll use Exa-Stag again to snatch one of those Pyramid Turtles in your graveyard." With that, Exa-Stag's other shield gained Pyramid Turtle's face. (2800 + (1200/2) = 3600) "With this, I now have the attack power to beat you!"

"But I win the bet!" Daniel yelled. "You can't use Ladybug again when you have no Spell or Trap card zones!"

He's right! Darn it! Naruto thought, looking at his hand. I can't summon him... Wait, that will work! "Since I have three Dark monsters in my grave, I can special summon Dark Armed Dragon."

"Lucky you!" Daniel cried. "If it wasn't for that card, you'd have been in trouble. You can win the duel and the bet now." This got the audience, and the proctors either participating in the duel or who had finished up the last of the duels, to wonder just what Naruto was planning.

Naruto continued his strategy. "Now, by banishing Inzektor Centipede from my graveyard, I can destroy my equipped Inzektor Giga-Mantis." (2400 to 1600) Seemingly proud that he figured it out, Daniel gave Naruto a big smile and some applause.  
Professor Wolf, however, didn't figure it out. _He could have banished all three monsters to clear my field and attack. _"Why would you weaken your own monster?"  
"When Giga-Mantis is unequipped, I summon another Inzektor monster from my graveyard to the field. I choose Inzektor Ladybug. Also, since Giga-Mantis was unequipped, Centipede lets me add another Inzektor card to my hand as well, and I choose Inzektor Giga-Mantis. I now normal summon Infernity Beetle. You see teach, this monster is special. It's called a tuner."  
Unfamiliar with the term, Professor Wolf let a slightly puzzled emotion show on his face. "So what does it do?"  
"Let me show you! I Tune my level 2 Infernity Beetle, Level 4 Inzektor Centipede, and level 2 Inzektor Ladybug. Synchro summon, Red Dragon Archfiend." (3000) "Red Dragon Archfiend, attack the monster to the right!" While the audience was in awe at the new monster, the flames from it's mouth flipped the set monster over to reveal Skull Servant. However, it wasn't destroyed just yet. "Red Dragon Archfiend's effect activates now! After the damage step when he attacks a defense position monster, I can destroy all monsters you control how are in Defense Position."  
Visibly shocked, Professor Wolf shouted "What?!" as he watched his face-down Wightmare and Pyramid Turtle get destroyed by the card effect as well.  
"Now that you're field is wide open, Inzektor Exa-Stag! Knock out his life points!"  
Fearing that he'd be injured again, the monster's shields just passed through him, reducing his life points to 0.  
"And that's how I win!"

**Naruto wins!**

With the audience applauding in the background, Naruto found himself hugged by Sakura, who ran onto the field. After hugging her back and giving her a kiss, which drove the audience wild, Naruto turned to see Daniel, who smiled and said "You're getting better. You may just catch up to me someday."

Getting up and dusting himself off, Professor Wolf approached the blond. "I apologize for my taunts during this duel Mr. Namikaze, not only am I an academy proctor but I'm also the school psychiatrist. I sensed a great deal of pain under that mask you wore at the beginning of the duel," Wolf paused. "I simply wished to draw out the true you."

"No offense but what you did was wrong," Naruto stated softly looking down at his cards with a proud smile. The whisker marked blonde walked down the stairs with Sakura and Daniel for moment before she through her arms around him glaring up at the proctor.

"I'm here for you, Naruto. I love you so much," she whispered feeling him bury his face into her shoulder and pulling her as close and tight to him as he could without hurting her.

Wolf winced at his lapse in judgment, not realizing that maybe his lifeless dueling persona was a little too detached to objectively assess such mental trauma. "I apologize for my harsh words again, sometimes my detached dueling persona can hurt more than help. But regardless, Mr. Namikaze, I can see you have a deep pain inside that could harm both you and Ms. Haruno. At some point I would like to extend my services to the both of you at the academy, to help cope with this pain."

Naruto simply nodded, and the proctor smiled, "At any rate you passed. While your scores show you did well with the puzzles, the rest of the written exam was mediocre. Also, you made some big mistakes and a couple overkills during this duel that could have cost you the win. I'm afraid I have to put you in Slifer Red."

Hearing that he wasn't going to be in the same dorm as Sakura saddened him. Seeing this, Daniel tried to cheer him up. "Don't worry Naruto. The Slifer Red and Ra Yellow dorms are close to each other. Besides, even if you got into Ra Yellow, there are different buildings for the boys and the girls, and they have no couple rooms. Besides, the classes are mixed classes, so you'll be seeing her a lot!"

Giving Naruto a kiss, Sakura remembered what Daniel said during the duel. "We won't abandon or forget you. We promise." Those words, and the kiss, cheered Naruto up.

"Come on Sakura!" Naruto said, heading for the door, "We gotta finish packing and tell my parents we made it! See you on the boat Daniel!"

* * *

Jaden was actually shocked at the duel's conclusion a new form of special summoning. "Whoa that's both cool and not so cool."

"Why's that Jaden?" Alexis asked.

"It's cool that you get such a sweet high attack monster but if that tuner monster is like the others it's kind of a hassle, having to put something down that could get killed in one turn," Jaden explained.

"That's a nit-pick Jaden, and a small one," Alexis smiled. "I could see myself using something like that in the future, bet anything we'll be seeing them a lot after today."

"Yeah least it'll be fun to duel I against that's for sure," the auburn haired teen stated. "And those Inzektor monsters are like my E-Heroes, they were so sweet!"

* * *

**How was that duel? I only had to search for one card to make this duel, and didn't deck stack (it's time-consuming to do that on dueling network). If you want to be a part of this fanfic, you'll need an account on DN and review/PM me. I have some decktypes and archetypes I'll need to build, but have a basic idea of which episodes to follow and which episodes to add in.**

* * *

**Important Review Responses:**

**bradw316: How does Heart of Clear Water work in an Inzektor deck? Many monsters have effects that activate upon them equipping to a monster, which would destroy Heart of Clear Water. Unless you WANT it destroyed, and hence a waste of an equip spell...**

* * *

**That's Game!**

**AnonymousGX**


	3. Duel 3: Chazz VS Daniel

**I just realized that I had misread Flyfang's effect. I'm sorry I messed up that card, and therefore the duel, but it's too late to go back and change it. So let's call it a 1 card cop out and let it slide.**

**If you want to join me in this fanfic, you'll need a dueling network account and a deck I'll request. I'll request new decks after each chapter, as a teaser for what I had in mind for the following chapter. Your main deck must be between 40 and 45 cards in size, and can use 1 Banned card or 1 extra Restricted card. I'm not planning on having Match Duels, so Side Decks are unnecessary Your Extra Deck can be of any size. You're allowed to use some Anime effects (like Hassleberry's Jurrasic World), or one slightly altered effect as a cop out IF you clear it with me before the duel. You also must PM me, NOT review me, with your DN account name and possible times we can get together (based on CA Pacific time). I don't want my reviews to get clogged up, unless it's by a guest.**

**Get your Game on!**

* * *

Naruto Namikaze found out something, he found out that regardless of how nice the boat or how wonderful the company, traveling by boat is probably the single most boring thing you could ever do. As he remembered the boat ride from the Land of Fire to the Land of Snow and how boring that trip was even with shooting a movie on the deck. He also believed Kakashi was blowing chunks about the mission being A-ranked until the Snow Ninja actually appeared. He glanced over at his beloved girlfriend who was dozing in a deck chair. "Hey Sakura," he said, waking her up. "I'm bored, let's have a duel!"

"You couldn't let me sleep..." Sakura groaned, looking at the nearby clock, "for the last half hour of this cruise? Leave me alone and go find somebody else to duel." With those words, Naruto left the room.

* * *

Jaden Yuki was currently in the galley eating lunch, boats and duels always make the E-hero duelist hungry. He figured it gentle damp air surrounding the boat and the high strategic thinking of duels that got his taste buds salivating for food. He glanced next to him to see his surprisingly constant companion since this trip began sitting next him lightly eating her meal. "Man, those duels were boring, cept two, that couple with the brightly colored hair was awesome."

Alexis nodded sipping her tea thinking back on it, "Sakura Haruno and Naruto Namikaze, one using the new XYZ monsters and the other using the new Synchro cards as well, you think Chancellor Crowler sent the two of us there specifically to watch those duels?"

With a light shrug the auburn haired boy smirked, "Don't know but I think it be really sweet to duel that Inzektor deck. Think about it. My E-Hero deck looks like an off shoot from the old DC comics what with Avian looking like Hawkman, while that Naruto guy looks like his is an off shoot of the Marvel comics," Jaden explained missing Alexis's eye rolling at the comic analogy but she smiled at it as well.

"The problem with that duel is that while your deck revolves around fusion and attacking, his revolves clearing the field and attacking. If he brings out his Inzektor Dragonfly then equips Hornet to it, your field could be destroyed. Also, you'd have to worry about his Synchro and excees monsters. I doubt Red Dragon Archfiend was his strongest monster," Alexis explains.

"What makes you think Red Dragon wasn't his best card?" Jaden asked, puzzled.

"I heard Daniel say he wanted two cards from Naruto, and Naruto almost swore never to give them up," Alexis explained. "We have no idea what that second card could be."

Jaden leans in so close that the blonde haired girl started getting light headed taking in his scent, while an innocent gesture still made her face flushed, "Yeah but Lex, that's the fun of it knowing he can break out something that I'd have to counter, that's what makes dueling so cool." He smirked missing her flushed cheeks. With those words, Jaden got back to eating, and Alexis joined him.

* * *

When he got above deck, Naruto saw that there were a few duels going on. Monsters ranging from large dragons to small insects were battling and attacking directly. One person lost due to Magic Cylinder, another to Blasting the Ruins. But in the center, winning with a direct attack by a robed man, was Daniel. Seeing Naruto run up to him, Daniel gave his friend a hug and a clap on the back. "Naruto! I was wondering when you'd go stir crazy and get up here! I was beginning to think you missed the boat! Want to hear how I beat my proctor?"

"Of course! But can I duel you afterwards? I need some action now!"

"I'm afraid I'm already called for by another duelist, but I'll duel you afterwards if there's time. Now... how did it start...

"When I saw I got Professor Crowler, I immediately asked to duel his best deck, since I wanted a challenge. He accepted, and told me I won't likely win. For my turn, I set three cards. When Crowler started his turn, he activated Polymerization. Turns out, he brought out Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem. I activated Bottomless Trap Hole to destroy it. However, he chained De-Fusion to bring back his three Ancient Gear Golems instead. After staring down 9000 total attack points, I activated Threatening Roar, which prevented him from attacking. He played Geartown, then ended his turn.

"For the winning turn, I began my turn by discarding Level Eater to summon The Tricky, then normal summoned Fire Ant Ascator. I used them to Synchro Summon Sun Dragon Inti. I then used one of Inti's levels to summon Level Eater, and chained Call of the Reaper to summon back Fire Ant Ascator. I used my Fire Ant Ascator and Level Eater to summon Armory Arm, who equipped himself to Inti. With him having 4000 attack, I destroyed an Ancient Gear Golem for 1000 damage, then inflicted 3000 points of damage thanks for Armory Arm's ability. With a total of 4000 damage, I won."

"That lucky combo may have earned you a victory against Crowler," a new voice spoke, "but you'll have to do better to defeat The Chazz." The new boy, who must have been The Chazz, seemed like the kind of boy Naruto disliked the most; selfish, proud, and looked down on others without reason.

"We'll have to see how lucky it was during our duel, Chazz," Daniel said, turning his duel disk on. "Let's kick things up a notch!"

"I told you twice already, it's The Chazz, and I'm going to Chazz it up!" With that, the boy activated his duel disk.

**Duel!**

**Chazz: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
****Daniel: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**

Chazz started the duel off. "The challenger goes first. Draw! I play Polymerization to fuse Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black. Combined, they create Ojama King! Now his special ability activates. You can't use three of your unused monster zones!" (0)  
Daniel knew the meaning behind that strategy. _This is bad. If I can't get out more than 2 monsters, I won't be able to summon more than 1 synchro or XYZ monster. But why would he summon it in attack position? Unless he activates the field spell...  
_"I now activate Ojama Country." Once it was played, a dessert town of Ojamas appeared. "This card switches all monsters atk and defense while there's an Ojama on the field, so say hello to 3000 atk points." (0 to 3000). "I end my turn with a face-down. No matter what you do, you can't beat The Chazz!" _Those Tuners monsters he relies on are weak in terms of attack. Chain Disappearance with make a large hole in his plans._

Daniel, already having a move planned out without including his draw card, began his turn. "Draw. When you have monsters on your field but I don't, I can special summon Vice Dragon. However, his attack and defense are halved." (2400 to 2000 /2 = 1000). "Now, by discarding a card, I can summon The Tricky!" (1200 to 2000).  
Chazz got worried at that move. _He's going for an XYZ summon? I thought this was a Synchro deck! He didn't switch out any cards, and I was watching him!_  
"I overlay my two level 5 monsters to build the overlay network. XYZ Summon Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon!" Out of a dark galaxy appeared a Dark Angel of death with a glowing red knife and two orbiting lights. "I activate his effect. By detaching an overlay unit, he can destroy 1 card on the field, as long as it's face-up. I choose Ojama Country." Adreus slashed an overlay unit, and the shock-wave destroyed the town. "With that, our monsters attacks reset." (3000 to 0), (1700 to 2600). "I still have my normal summon, so I'll call out the Tuner Monster Dark Resonator."  
_A Tuner with more than 1000 attack! I can't banish that!_  
Seeing Chazz unnerved, Daniel began his Battle Phase. "Dark Resonator, destroy his Ojama King! Adreus, attack directly!" A mallet to Resonator's tuning fork destroyed Ojama King, then Adreus faded out of sight. He reappeared behind Chazz, and stabbed him through the heart, reducing his life points down to one hundred. "I end my turn. If you want to beat me so bad Chazz, you should step your game up!"

**Chazz: LP 100, H 0, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 0/0  
****Daniel: LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 'Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon (1)' 'Dark Resonator'/0**

Chazz, with no cards in his hand or his field, got scared. However, his draw seemed to cheer him up. "I set one card face down, and end my turn."

Daniel saw the look on his face. _He must have a card that can prevent my attacks. Worse case scenario, it's Mirror Force. Either way, only 1 successful attack is needed to win._ "Let's see if I can end this. Draw! I switch Dark Resonator to defense mode. Adreus, attack directly!"  
"I activate a trap, Mirror Force! This card destroys all your monster in attack mode. You're lucky you switched Dark Resonator to defense."  
Daniel chucked. "It wasn't luck. I read your face like a book and knew you weren't bluffing. So, to protect my monster and my Life Points in the scenario that that card was Mirror Force, I moved Dark Resonator to defense mode. Most other possible counters either would let you live or wouldn't completely shield your life points, hence dropping you to 0. Besides, there are less common cards that can protect you from one attack then common cards that would protect you from both. I play one card face-down. It's your move. But first, you should know something. Once per turn, Dark Resonator can't be destroyed by battle."

**Chazz: LP 100, H 0, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 0/0  
****Daniel: LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Dark Resonator'/0**

Seeing the hard odds against him, and that this duelist could read his moves, Chazz nervously began his turn. "I draw. I'll set one monster and end my turn."

Daniel started to look confident in this duel. _If he runs a pure Ojama deck, then that face-down monster won't stop me. But just in case... I better plan for the future._ "Let's wrap this up. By discarding a card, I can summon another The Tricky. I Tune my level 3 Dark Resonator and my level 5 Tricky. Synchro summon, Thought Ruler Archfiend." (2700). "When Thought Ruler Archfiend destroys a monster, I gain Life Points equal to the destroyed monster's attack. And I see a monster on your side of the field. Thought Ruler Archfiend! Destroy his monster!" The monster was revealed to be a Masked Dragon. _Why is he using Dragons in this deck? They don't mix well at all!_  
"When Masked Dragon is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, he can summon another Dragon to the field. I choose Armed Dragon LV3." (1300)  
"But don't forget, Masked Dragon had 1400 attack points. That's a decent boost to my LP. I end my turn." _This could be bad. If he draws a strong enough monster or uses Level Up!, my Thought Ruler is toast. I should have attacked with both synchro materials first. But then again, he'd summon a Masked Dragon in attack mode to prevent my Resonator's attack. Oh stop musing already and pay attention to the duel!_

**Chazz: LP 100, H 0, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Armed Dragon LV3'/0  
****Daniel: LP 5,400, H 1, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Thought Ruler Archfiend'/0**

Hoping for the best, Chazz drew. "Why lucky me."  
Daniel, anticipating both the monster and the card, had a move to play. "By discarding Maxx "C", I can draw a card every time you Special Summon this turn."  
"Armed Dragon LV3's effect activates! By tributing Armed Dragon LV3..."  
Daniel interrupted "...You can summon LV5. And based on your reaction to your card, you drew Level Up."  
"Be quiet and let me duel! I can summon Armed Dragon LV5." (2400)  
"Thanks to Maxx "C"s effect, I get to draw one card."  
"I now play Level Up!"  
Daniel looked indifferent. "Just like I anticipated. You're going to tribute LV5 for LV7, which has enough atk points to destroy my monster."  
Chazz got angry at this know-it-all duelist. "Don't get ahead of me! These are my cards, not yours! By Tributing Armed Dragon LV5, I summon LV7!" (2800)  
"Again, I get to draw a card. Go ahead and tell Armed Dragon LV7 to attack my monster now."  
"Don't tell me what to do! Armed Dragon LV7, attack his monster now!" A claw to the Archfiend destroyed it. "I end my turn."

"Not much else either of us could do. Looks like we're both in a pickle. My move, Draw! Maxx "C" was good to me. I activate Card Trader. If, during my Standby Phase, I don't like a card I have, I can swap it out for another in my deck. I'll set a monster and a card, and end my turn."

**Chazz: LP 100, H 0, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Armed Dragon LV7'/0  
****Daniel: LP 5,300, H 0, S/T 'Card Trader'/2, F 0, M 0/1**

Seeing a weak level 4- monster, Chazz got confident. _All I have to do is summon a monster, and I can win this duel in two turns. "_My move, DRAW!" He was shocked at the card drawn. _Ojama Trio? How can I use that now? _"I'll set one card face down and attack your monster!" Armed Dragon's claws flipped over a monster that was hidden in a pot.  
Grinning, Daniel announced the monsters name. "You activated my Morphing Jar's Flip Effect! Since we both have no hand, we get to draw 5 cards."  
"I don't get it," Chazz said, nonplussed, as he restocked his hand. "Why would you let me draw cards?"  
"For the same reason I drew cards; I needed it. Besides, I want to duel you at your best. It's the best way two duelists can honor each other."  
Unmoved by his speech, Chazz ended his turn.

Daniel kept a poker face as he viewed his hand. "Draw! I activate Card of Safe Return. Each time a monster is summoned from my grave, I get to draw a card. Now, since you have a monster but I don't, I can summon Oracle of the Sun. I now normal summon Supay."  
Chazz got excited seeing that monster. _That's one of the main Tuners he used last duel. Here's my chance!_ "I activate Chain Disappearance! That Supay, and all others in your hand and deck, are banished!"  
Daniel seemed astonished at that card. _That card doesn't get played often. __Did he watch my last duel, then add that card to throw off my game? It almost worked._ "I activate a Counter Trap, Dark Bribe. Your trap is negated, and you draw one card instead. With my monster safe, I Tune my level 1 Supay and my Level 5 Oracle. Synchro summon, Moon Dragon Quilla." (2000)  
Chazz was shocked at seeing this Synchro. _He used that last duel. He must want more Life Points._  
"Now, I banish Moon Dragon Quilla."  
"Say what?"  
"What?" Hearing that and seeing Daniel's smile made Chazz angrier at this nonchalant duelist. "Because I did so, I can special summon D.D. Sprite. With her on the field, I activate Instant Fusion. This card lets me pay 1000 LP to summon a lvl 5 or lower Fusion monster. Come out, Reaper on the Nightmare."  
_A Tuner and a level 5 again._ Chazz thought. _But what's he going to summon now?  
_"I Tune my level 1 D.D. Sprite and my lvl 5 Reaper. Synchro summon, Sirius the Blue Wolf Star." (1500) "I set one card face down and end my turn."

**Chazz: LP 100, H 6, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 'Armed Dragon LV7'/0  
****Daniel: LP 4,300, H 1, S/T 'Card Trader'/2, F 0, M 'Sirius the Blue Wolf Star'/0**

Chazz saw the monsters in his hand and knew he had a chance. "I draw!"  
Before he could make his move, Daniel spoke up. "During this standby phase, Moon Dragon Quilla returns to the field." (2000)  
"I activate Ojama Trio. This card summons three Ojama tokens to your field. But they won't be staying for long. I activate Armed Dragon's effect. By discarding Masked Dragon, all monsters you control with 1400 or less attack are destroyed."  
"And let me guess; when an Ojama Token is destroyed, its controller takes 300 damage."  
"Quit anticipating me! I'm not predictable! I normal summon X-Head Cannon. I also play Frontline Base to let me summon a Union monster once per turn." With that announcement, Chazz pulled a card from his hand and held it, back-first, towards Daniel. "If I am so predictable, tell me which card I'm going to summon!"  
Daniel thought for a moment. _Ojamas, Armed Dragons, now VWXYZ? He's lucky if he wins at all with those badly mixed strategies._ "While there are a few Union monsters that can help you right now, the most likely ones are Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank. However, only one of them gives you enough attack to defeat both my monsters either way you attack, so I'll guess Z-Metal Tank!"  
Chazz fell on his face hearing that guess. "Lucky guess. I special summon Z-Metal Tank, who equips to X-Head Cannon. This gives X-Head Cannon 600 more attack points." (1600 + 600 = 2200) "Battle! X-Head Canon, destroy his Moon Dragon!"  
"When Moon Dragon Quilla is targeted for an attack, I gain life points equal to half of the attacking monster's attack."  
"Who cares? Armed Dragon LV7, destroy his Wolf Star!"  
Daniel smirked. "Did I forget to mention that when Sirius is destroyed, I can reduce the attack of one monster you control by 2400? I choose your Armed Dragon!"  
_NO WAY! _Chazz thought. _I lose! "_Just go already!"

"Time to end this. Draw! I activate my set Pot of Avarice! I can return 5 monsters from my grave to their decks to draw 2 new cards. I'm returning Sirius, both The Tricky's, Adreus, and Thought Ruler Archfiend to draw 2 cards. Nice! I activate Foolish Burial, to send my Level Eater from my deck to my grave. "I summon Fire Ant Ascator."  
_That's the second Tuner! But where's the level 5 monster?_  
"Trap, activate! Limit Reverse. This lets me summon Oracle of the Sun from my grave. Since it was summoned from my grave, I get to draw a card."  
_There it is. Here comes that other Dragon...  
_"I use Level Eater's effect. By eating a level from my oracle, he is special summoned from my grave, which gives me another draw. I Tune my level 3 Fire Ant, level 4 Oracle, and level 1 Level Eater. Synchro summon, Sun Dragon Inti! Inti, attack his Armed Dragon LV7!" That one attack dropped Chazz's life points to 0. "Next time, bring me your best!"

**Daniel wins!**

"You may think your good Freshman," Chazz said haughtily, "But you got lucky with all those cards."

"And you didn't?" Daniel retorted. "Having three different deck strategies in one makes it that much harder for you to get the cards you need for a winning combo. Suppose you drew Frontline Base when you had only Armed Dragon monsters and support. Or you had Armed Dragon LV5 or 7 on the field when you only had Ojamas in your hand. I suggest you split that deck into three and try again."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Chazz snapped.

"I'm the Pro Duelist chosen to watch over a few new decks, and maybe gift them to potential students." With those parting remarks, Daniel left the duel area.

"Wow! Sweet duel Daniel! It's my turn, believe it!" Naruto said, turning on his duel disk.

"**We are now docking at Duel Academy Island. Please make your way to Deck 1 to disembark.**"

"What? We're there already! But I wanna duel!" Naruto whined.

"And you will Naruto. But we have to take our stuff to our dorms and unpack," Daniel said, reaching to turn off Naruto's duel disk. "Maybe you can find somebody to duel at the Slifer Red dorm, if you unpack fast enough before dinner."

At the thought of dueling, Naruto rushed to get off the boat first and unpack quickly. Chuckling, Daniel followed him and left the open deck.

* * *

**Here's duel 3. How am I doing so far on my own? That duel was made with only 2 searches: Ojama Black and Morphing Jar. I'm not kidding, Chazz really was that lucky!**

**If you want to join me for the next duel, PM (not review) me your DN username. The deck of the chapter is: Archlord Zerato/Sanctuary in the Sky.**

* * *

**That's Game!**

**AnonymousGX**


	4. Duel 4: AP vs Naruto

**This deck was brought to you by dylan101, who put up a great duel without the need to search for cards to prolong it. I, however... three searches... bad draws...**

* * *

When Naruto finally found the Slifer building, he noticed a small group of people staring over the edge of the cliff. Wanting to duel, Naruto ran into the well named Red Dorm, found a room with a spare bed, and started unpacking. A few minutes later, Naruto came out in school uniform, wearing his duel disk, and raring to duel. Seeing the group of people still standing there, Naruto decided to see what they were looking at. As he got closer, he noticed the ground turn into clouds. _Somebody must be dueling! I gotta see!_ However, as he was running over, the field spell disappeared naturally. _That wasn't a destruction. Is the duel over already?! _He then saw a silver haired boy in a white suit walk up the cliff's path, pass the group, and continue on his way. _He's so calm... he must have won! I must duel him!_ Turning around during his high-speed run didn't turn out to be easy though, and Naruto almost went over the cliff. However, he caught himself in time, and went running off to find that silver haired boy.

After looking around for a few minutes, Naruto spotted the boy heading towards a helicopter on the beach. "Hey you!" Naruto called, catching the boy's attention. "I want to duel you!" The boy turned back around and headed for the helicopter. "Oh no you don't! I've been waiting a whole cruise for action, I'm going to get it from you!" Naruto cried, blocking off the boy's path. "Win or Lose, I won't move until I duel you!"

_Interesting. _Aster thought. _Sartorius told me I would return home without another duel, but this boy is defying that fate._ After trying to move around the boy proved futile, Aster knew there was no other option. _Fine. I'll test this boy. He may be the one he wants instead of Jaden._

**Duel!**

**Naruto: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
Aster: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**

Naruto kicked the duel off. "Let's get this game going! I draw! I activate Verdant Sanctuary. If one of my face-up insects is destroyed, I can add another to my hand, as long as they're the same level. I set 1 monster and 1 card. Your move."

Aster was perplexed at this move. _Why is he giving up a chance to use Verdant Santuary's effect? Is that mosnter not an insect?_ "Draw. I activate Reinforcement of the Army. I can now add a Warrior from my deck to my hand. I choose this monster, Warrior of Zera. Since you already know about him, I'll summon him, in attack mode." (1600). "I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down card."  
"My Variable Form! You destroyed it!" Naruto yelled. _Wait, why did I say that? Is there something in the air that makes everyone Captain Obvious? That would explain all the dumb duelists I heard during the test and on the cruise..._  
Aster continued his turn. "I activate Reload. I can take the three cards in my hand, and exchange them for three more. I'll send Zeradias, Herald of the Heaven to the grave to add Sanctuary in the Sky to my hand. I play the field spell I just got!"  
Naruto saw the cloudy sky become clear, a sanctuary with a somewhat familiar spire appear behind the mystery boy, and the ground become clouds. _Is this the field spell I saw earlier? _"Nice clouds. Is there a goddess and a flightless angel here too?"  
Aster made his fake deck's big move. "While this field spell is in play, I can tribute Zera to summon Archlord Zerato! I can now activate his effect. By discarding a Light Monster card, like this here Ojama Yellow," he said, discarding said card, "I can destroy all monsters you have." When the discarded monster hit the building's spire, it released a bolt of light, obliterating Howling Insect. "Too bad your monster wasn't face up, or else you'd search another insect due to your spell card. Get ready for a display of raw angel power, because Archlord Zerato can strike at your life points directly!"  
Naruto was hit directly with a bunch of feathers and blasts of wind.  
"I now end my turn." _He's losing against a deck I made this morning out of spare cards? He's more pathetic than Jaden._

_**Naruto: LP 1,200, H 3, S/T 'Verdant Sanctuary'/0, F 0, M 0/0  
Aster: LP 4,000, H 0, S/T 0/0, F 'Sanctuary in the Sky', M 'Archlord Zerato'/0**_

Naruto was disappointed with his next draw. "I set one monster and one card. You're move."

"My turn already? Draw. Ha. I activate Night Beam. This card lets me destroy one of your set cards, and you can't chain it's effect."  
Naruto saw his chances of winning dwindling. "You destroyed my Mirror Force!" _OK, I've got to resist whatever's making me say these things!_  
"Then it's safe for me to attack with Zerato!" Zerato's sword flipped the card over to reveal Inzektor Earwig. "Let's see how your cards save you from your destiny."

**Naruto: LP 1,200, H 2, S/T 'Verdant Sanctuary'/0, F 0, M 0/0  
Aster: LP 4,000, H 0, S/T 0/0, F 'Sanctuary in the Sky', M 'Archlord Zerato'/0**

_Great, _Naruto thought to himself, _another Fate guy I have to break. Well, I can't lose now can I?_ "I draw! Nice! I summon Inzektor Centipede." (1600) "I can now use his effect to equip himself with the Earwig you sent to the grave." (1600 + 1000 = 2600). "I can now activate the equip spell Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber, and equip it to Centipede." (2600 + 800 = 3400) "Centipede, I'll be having barbequed angel tonight. Hmmmm... " Naruto remembered he hadn't had lunch on the cruise ship. "Spicy Angel Wings sounds tasty..." Using the three weapons it had, Centipede diced up Archlord Zerato.  
"Argh," the boy said, unscratched. "Eat the chicken instead. They're much more economical."  
"Hey wait a minute. You were supposed to take damage!"  
"I'm sorry blondie, but thanks to my field spell, I don't take damage when a Fairy battles."  
"Darn it! I end my turn."

_Great, this deck's best monster is gone again_, Aster thought. _I'm Finished!_ "I set one monster. Turn end."

**Naruto: LP 1,200, H 1, S/T 'Verdant Sanctuary' 'Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber' 'Inzektor Earwig'/0, F 0, M 'Inzektor Centipede (Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber, Inzektor Earwig)'/0  
Aster: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 'Sanctuary in the Sky', M 0/0**

"Darn it!" Naruto said, "No monster! Oh well, Centipede attack!" Another Warrior of Zera appeared before it's destruction. "I'll end my turn."

Aster was in trouble and knew it._ Why do our hands run out so fast? _"I set one monster and end my turn."

**Naruto: LP 1,200, H 1, S/T 'Verdant Sanctuary' 'Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber' 'Inzektor Earwig'/0, F 0, M 'Inzektor Centipede (Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber, Inzektor Earwig)'/0  
Aster: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 'Sanctuary in the Sky', M 0/0**

"I draw! Yes! I can finish this duel now! I summon Beetron. His ability lets me send a face-up spell or trap card I have, such as Inzektor Earwig, to the grave to summon Howling Insect." (1300) "Now, both Centipede and Earwig's effects activate. Earwig gives Centipede a 1000 attack bonus for this turn, and Centipede lets me search out an Inzektor card." (2600 - 1000 + 1000 = 2600). "I choose Inzektor Hornet. Now, I can use Centipede's other effect to equip Hornet. While Hornet is equipped to a monster, I can send it to the grave to destroy one card on the field. I choose your set monster!" Centipede drilled through the card in question and destroyed Zerdias, Herald of Heaven. "I now activate Centipede's first effect again, letting me add Inzektor Dragonfly to my hand. Beetron, Centipede, finish this duel!" Those two consecutive attacks finished off Aster's 4,000 life points. "And that's how I win!"

**Naruto wins!**

"Thanks for the duel! Oh, what's your name?" Naruto asked.

"It's A.P." The boy said, making his way to the helicopter.

Naruto would have asked what they stood for, but he heard the dinner bell ring. Reminded by his stomach of how hungry he was, Naruto ran for food. When he got there, he saw that Daniel had saved him a seat and already got him a plate. "So, did you get your duel?"

"Yep I did! I challenged this silver haired boy in a white tux and won. He called himself A.P."

"A.P. ..." Daniel mused. "Wait, did you say silver hair and white tux? That's Aster Phoenix! He took the title of #1 Duelist in the World League from me! I head he had come to Duel Academy, dueled Jaden with a thrown-together deck he made this morning, and lost."

"Wait. Did that deck use Archlord Zerato?"

"Yes it did. That was the card that gave Jaden a hard time."

"So I beat the #1 duelist in the world, with a weak deck that wasn't his own?" Naruto asked, shocked. "Should I be happy or disappointed? Aster, this game is still going, believe it!"

* * *

"You are late," a creepy voice came from under a large white hood. The mysterious person was sitting at a glass table on a see-though chair. "This was not predicted in the cards."

"I'm sorry master," Aster apologized, "I was prevented from entering my helicopter by a blonde boy with whisker marks. He beat the deck I threw together for Jaden with me trying my best to win."

"Your best, you said? Well don't worry. His destiny isn't important enough for our plans."

However, a mysterious power heard the description of the boy. _So he is at Duel Academy._

* * *

**Thanks again to dylan101 for helping me out with this duel. And Sorry this chapter is so short. I'll see what I can do for the next one.**

**The reason Sartorius couldn't foretell Naruto is because Naruto isn't from the world of Duel Monsters. The fate of that world isn't connected to the fate of Naruto's, so Sartorius' fate cards literally can't see Naruto.**

**The next duel will need: Pure Evol. This means no non-Evol monsters and few to no non-Evol or Evol monster support. If you want to duel with this deck, plan for two days from now and let me know.**

* * *

**That's Game!**

**AnonymousGX**


	5. Duel 5: Daniel vs Hassleberry

**For those who didn't like how short the last chapter was, I hope this is better.**

**Get your game on!**

* * *

After a few days of classes, Daniel decided to go find Naruto and Sakura. Sure they saw each other at the weekly combined dinner and during classes, but they rarely had the chance to talk to, or duel with, each other. Also, the fact that explosive duels that can be heard from a mile away haven't occurred yet might mean Naruto was going stir crazy.

As he was heading towards the Slifer Red Dorm, he heard some voices coming from up ahead on his path. "This is so unchill!" "That's true, believe it... Iruka wasn't this harsh a teacher." "We sleep through one of Crowler's lectures, and we have to lug all these duel disks across campus."

Recognizing one of those voices, Daniel sped up. Soon, he caught up to Naruto, that Jaden boy, and a small blue-haired Slifer. "Hey guys, need a hand with those duel disks? I can take one from each of you." Daniel was soon trudging along the path with his friend and two new friends. "I wonder why so many people are losing their duel disks..."

"That's right..." Naruto thought out loud, puzzled. "The only thing worse than a Duel Student without a disk is one without a deck. Why would they misplace so many disks?"

The blue-haired boy, Daniel learned his name was Syrus, start to fidget. Naruto and Jaden didn't notice, since they were walking ahead of him, but Daniel picked up on it. "Sy, where's your duel disk?" Seeing him start to freak out, Daniel tried to calm him. "Don't worry. You're with friends, one of whom is a professional duelist. If something happened to your Duel Disk, we can help you."

Sy started calming down at these words. "You three know the West River area, with the main bridge? There's a bully there that duels anybody who crosses. If you lose, his gang takes your disk." Syrus started to cry again. "He even took my lunch money! And my deck too!"

"What deck do you use?" Daniel asked.

"I use a Roid deck. But I'm not very good."

_I'm surprised, _Daniel thought. _Roids are among the weaker archetypes without the support of strong spells or traps. He'd have to be a very good duelist to make it into this Academy with a deck like that. _"Tell you what, I have a few machine decks I'm supposed to distribute among duelists here. When we get back to the dorm, want to try a couple of them out? Who knows, if you master one of them, I'll give it to you for free."

Hearing the offer of a new deck from a professional duelist, which probably uses those strong XYZ and Synchro monsters, made Syrus drop his disks, hug Daniel, and start to cry again. "Thank you Daniel!"

"If you want to duel, you'll need a Duel Disk. In that case," Jaden said, getting a smile on his face. _Oh great, I thought myself and Naruto were bad enough with our love of dueling, _Daniel thought. "I think we should take the long way home." Smiling, he started off at a faster pace. "Let's go win back some Duel Disks!" Naruto, pumped, followed Jaden, and Syrus was nervously warning Jaden about how dangerous the bully was. Daniel, however, saw something they overlooked.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Daniel asked. "If you do win those disks back, you'll have to carry at least 28 duel disks all the way back to your dorm." That thought scared the excited duo and nervous boy. "How about you give those disks to me, I carry them to the dorm, and you guys go catch that bully. I'll be a little late, but I will help you get your stuff back Syrus." Grateful, the three boys dropped their luggage. "In return, I won't have to carry a single one of the stolen disks." Coming to an agreement, the trio rushed off to the bridge on the West River.

* * *

Daniel arrived a few minutes later. Jaden and who must have been the bully were dueling, and a Jurrasic World field spell was in play. _A Dino lover, _Daniel thought, feeling the distribution decks in his coat pockets. _What a coincidence. _Syrus and a group of boys in similar uniforms to the bully were on the bridge, and for some strange reason, all of them started cheering for Jaden. The bully then broke down, monologuing that he's always abandoned. Jaden then suggested that the Dino boy evolved his dueling, and made a turn to prove it. After the duel was over, the supposed bully started being friendly to Jaden, only to realize that what was a Field Spell Hologram floor was actually a cliff to the West River. _OK, rather than make mistakes like that, we need some kind of duel glasses, so that only mature duelists can see the monsters that scared my baby sister and don't get messed up by terrain changes like that. _The bully, then revealed he had defeated 99 students, including Syrus, but his troops offered to help carry the duel disks back to their owners.

Daniel, however, stopped the Yellow from leaving. "Hello, my name's Daniel. I saw you duel, and think I have an answer or two for your change problem."

The boy took Daniel's hand roughly. "Call me Sargent Hassleberry. What do you mean by that?"

"I have two decks here that can help you evolve your Dinos beyond what you currently do. One focuses on Synchro Summoning, and the other on XYZ summoning."

"Exees and synchros? What in tarnation are those?"

"How about we have a duel with them, and you figure it out? Synchro monsters are White Monsters that work like Ritual Monsters. To bring them out, you need one Tuner, your Ritual Spell card and Monster card rolled into one, and other non-Tuner monsters. However, the level of all sent monsters must equal the level of the Synchro you're trying to bring out.  
The XYZ, not exees, are Black Monster cards. They don't have levels, but Ranks. They are summoned by placing two or more monsters of the same level on top of each other, then summoning the XYZ monster on top of them. The monsters under the XYZ are called overlay units, and are treated like a special Spell Counter that can't attack or defend, but can be spent to use an XYZ monster's ability."

"Well, that briefing made some sense," Hassleberry pondered. "So you want to duel me using one of these decks?"

"If you use the other," Daniel confirmed, handing him a deck and extra deck to look over. "If you do well enough against me, you can choose which deck to take and mix with your own."

"These are interesting battalions," Hassleberry said. "Alright, let's start this war!"

"Well, with these new cards of yours, kick it up a notch!"

**Duel!**

**Daniel: ****LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**  
Hassleberry: **LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**

Daniel, realizing that Hassleberry barely saw his cards before the duel, decided to take the initiative. "I'll go first, and give you some time to study your hand. First, I summon Evoltile Najasho in defense mode." (2000) "I'll activate the Spell Card known as Evo-Force. By tributing an Evoltile monster, I can special summon an Evolsaur as if it was summoned by an Evoltile monster. I choose to summon Evolsaur Elias." (2400) "At this point, Evoltile Najasho's effect activates, as well as Evolsaur Elias' effect."  
Hassleberry was shocked at this play. "Two effects at once?"  
Daniel smiled. "First, Elias allows me to summon a Fire Dinosaur from my hand, as long as it's level is six or less. I choose another Evolsaur Elias."  
"Two of the same monster? Are you going for one of those excees monsters?"  
"It's called XYZ, but wait a second. You forgot about Evoltile Najasho's effect. He lets me summon an Evolsaur from my deck when it's tributed. I choose Evolsaur Cerato. Now, as you may have guessed, Evolsaurs have abilities that are activated when they're summoned by the effect of an Evoltile. When Evolsaur Cerato is summoned by the effect of a Evoltile monster, he gains 200 attack." (1900 + 200 = 2100) "I overlay my two level 6 Evolsaur Elias. XYZ Summon, Evolzar Solda." (2600).  
"Sam Hill! Two troops with over 2000 attack on your first turn?!"  
Daniel smiled at his surprise. "I'll set 1 card face down. Your move." _I hope he can figure out how that deck works and Synchro summoning._

Hassleberry, still nervous at the odds against him, drew his card. After studying his hand for while, he figured out his move. "I summon Jurrac Velo. I'll set two cards face down, and it's your move."

**Daniel: ****LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Evolsaur Cerato (Evoltile'd)' 'Evolzar Solda (2OU)'/0**  
Hassleberry: **LP 4,000, H 3, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Jurrac Velo'/0**

Daniel began his turn confidently. "First, I'll set 1 monser face down. Now Evolsaur Cerato, attack Jurrac Velo!" With that command, the Ceratosaurus bit down hard on the smaller Velociraptor, destroying it.  
Hassleberry took command after the damage. "Since you gave me this deck, you should know that when Jurrac Velo is destroyed by battle while in attack position, he can summon out another Jurrac monster from my deck." After reviewing all the cards in his deck, he selected his monster. "Jurrac Protops, you're called to duty."  
"I did know that. That's why I'll chain Evolzar Solda's ability. By using one overlay unit, I can destroy a special summoned monster." Said XYZ monster ate one of his overlay units and glowed before dive bombing the summoned Jurrac Protops. "Also, since your monster was destroyed by battle with Cerato, his ability lets me add an Evoltile to my hand. I'll choose Evoltile Lagosucho. Now, with your field open, Solda can now attack you directly!"  
"Not so fast private! I activate Fossil Excavation. I can activate this card by discarding one card. This lets me summon a Dino from my grave. I'll choose the Jurrac Gallim I just discarded." Said monster appeared in defense position.  
Daniel, however, just smiled. "Did you forget that Solda's ability only takes one overlay unit, not both? Using my final overlay unit, I'll stop that summon and destroy your monster." With another overlay unit eaten, both Hassleberry's monster and his trap were destroyed. "Your field, once again, is wide open. Solda, attack directly!" Solda took a huge bite out Hassleberry's leg. "I end my turn." _If I want to know if he can use that deck properly, I have to push him to his limit._

Hassleberry started his turn, and smiled at his drawn monster. "Alright! I summon Jurrac Guaiba." (1700) "Go! Attack his face-down monster!" Guaiba then rushed the set monster and obliterated it.  
Daniel revealed the effect of his monster. "When Evoltile Gephyro is destroyed by battle, can can summon an Evolsaur from my grave. I choose Evolsaur Elias." (2400)  
Hassleberry was shocked at this move. "Not that scout again! And don't tell me..."  
"Elias's effect activates, summoning Evolsaur Vulcano from my hand in defense mode." (1000)  
Hassleberry "Well Jurrac Guaiba has an effect too. He lets me summon out another Jurrac monster. He's a scout too," Hassleberry said as he searched his deck again. "I chose Jurrac Stauriko." (400) "I'll lay down a face down, your move."

**Daniel: ****LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Evolsaur Cerato (Evoltile'd)' 'Evolzar Solda' 'Evolsaur Elias (Evoltile'd)' 'Evolsaur Vulcano'/0**  
Hassleberry: **LP 1,000, H 1, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Jurrac Guaiba' 'Jurrac Stauriko'/0**

Daniel was disappointed. _He had a chance to Synchro summon, but didn't take it. Maybe he doesn't have what it takes to use these decks. I'll have to push him harder..._ "I activate Evo-Diversity. I can now add one Evoltile or Evolsaur from my deck to my hand. I'll add Evoltile Westlo. Cerato, attack his Guaiba!"  
Hassleberry quickly took action. "Not so fast. I play a trap, Mirror Force!" When Cerato hit the Mirror Force barricade, his attack was reflected, destroying Cerato and Solda.  
Daniel finished his turn, curious as to which monster Hassleberry wanted. "I set one monster face-down, your move."

"My move. Draw!" Hassleberry began. "I'm activating Fossil Dig. I can add 1 Dino to my hand, as long as it is a level 6 or below. And I choose Jurrac Velo."  
_Very interesting choice._ Daniel thought to himself. _Is he planning on bringing out Jurrac Meteor during his next turn? Maybe he can use this deck._  
"But he won't be drafted just yet. I'll tribute both my monsters to summon Jurrac Titano." (3000).  
_Of course. This monster, a tribute summon, is familiar to him. But if he wants to get better, he'll have to learn other ways of bringing out monsters._  
"Titano, attack his Vulcano! I'm not letting you get another XYZ so easily!" Titano's fiery breath destroyed the blue Dino. "I end my turn."

**Daniel: ****LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Evolsaur Elias (Evoltile'd)' 'Evolsaur Vulcano'/1**  
Hassleberry: **LP 1,000, H 1, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Jurrac Titano'/0**

Daniel was pleased he could use his main deck so well. _But I'll have to get rid of his Titano in order to make him Synchro Summon. However, I don't have a monster with enough attack points to defeat him in my deck or extra deck. But maybe..._ "I'll set one monster and end my turn."

Hassleberry knew he was in charge of this duel. "Looks like I'll be winning myself one of these new decks. I'll start with summoning Jurrac Velo." (1700) "Velo, attack his set monster on the left!" he called, fully expecting to summon another good monster with Velo's effect. However, Velo's teeth bounced off Daniel's set monster. (1900) "Sam Hill, you have more defense points?"  
"And what's more, I have a Flip Effect! When Westlo is flipped, I can summon an Evolsaur from my deck. I choose Vulcano, in defense mode. His effect, when summoned by an Evoltile, lets me summon another Evolsaur from the grave. I choose another Evolsaur Vulcano."  
"That doesn't matter that much to me." _Now let's see. He now has two level 4 monsters. So that means..._ "Jurrac Titano, turn his Evolsaur Vulcano into Dino chow!"  
"Not so fast! I activate Evo-Miracle. Since the Vulcano you attacked was summoned by an Evoltile, he can't be destroyed by anything this turn."  
With that failed attack, Hassleberry realized he might be in a pinch with any XYZ monster Daniel might bring out. "I end my turn."

**Daniel: ****LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 'Evolsaur Elias (Evoltile'd)' 'Evolsaur Vulcano (Evoltile'd)' 'Evolsaur Vulcano' 'Evoltile Westlo'/1**  
Hassleberry: **LP 800, H 1, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Jurrac Titano' 'Jurrac Velo'/0**

Daniel smiled. _I need him to get confident before forcing him to play harder. If he doesn't have any hope at all, my act won't work. Oh well, I might as well show him all three of the Evolzar XYZs in this deck._ "I'll overlay my 2 level 4 Evolsaur Vulcanos. XYZ summon Evolzar Laggia!" A glowing, six-winged dragon rose from the overlay network. "Laggia, attack his Jurrac Velo." Laggia sky dived the prone monster, destroying it quickly.  
Hassleberry, however, remembered his monster's ability. "I activate Velo's effect!"  
"Not so fast. Laggia can negate the special summoning of a monster, or the activation of a spell or trap card. I'll negate your Velo's effect by detatching both my overlay units from Laggia!" Laggia ate both overlay units and sent six blasts of wind at the destroyed Jurrac Velo, stopping it's ability. "I set 1 card face down. you're move."

Hassleberry looked unmoved by this strategy. "I summon Jurrac Velo. I'll activate Jurrac Titano's ability. By banishing Jurrac Stauriko, he gains 1000 attack!" (3000 + 1000 = 4000) "Titano, destroy his Laggia!"  
It was a clash of titans, but the Titano won. _So he now uses Titano's effect, but doesn't waste it on defense position monsters. _Daniel noted. _He has potential. But he has to understand how Synchros work before I give him that deck._  
Hassleberry was almost glowing in Dino Mode at the prospect of winning. "Velo, attack his face-down monster." However, the set monster broke Velo's teeth. "Not another one of those!"  
Daniel smirked at the Dino Sargent. "So you remember Evoltile Westlo's ability? I'll use it to summon Evolsaur Cerato." (1900 + 200 = 2100)  
Hassleberry was a little disappointed with that failed attack. "You're move."

**Daniel: ****LP 2,400, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Evolsaur Elias (Evoltile'd)' 'Evoltile Westlo X2' 'Evoltsaur Cerato (Evoltile'd)'/0**  
Hassleberry: **LP 600, H 1, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Jurrac Titano' 'Jurrac Velo'/0**

Daniel was beaming mentally. _Now that I know his strategy, I'll be able take out his big Rex. Too bad I didn't add that Rank 3 Dino, Grenosaurus, to this deck; I thought I would never be able to summon it in a proper duel..._ "I'll summon Evolsaur Pelta, in defense mode," (2000) "and use him with Cerato for an XYZ summon. Come out, Evolzar Dolkka." The third Evolzar appeared in a fiery inferno rather than a mystical glow. (2300) "Dolkka, attack his Velo!"  
Hassleberry quickly saw that this attack would wipe his life points out exactly to 0. "I'll play my trap! Survival Instinct! By banishing four dinos from my grave, I can gain 400 life points for each one." With that LP gain, Hassleberry barely survived that attack. ""I activate Velo's effect, to let me summon Jurrac Protops. This guy gains 100 attack for every monster you have out." (1700 + 300 = 2000)  
_I hoped he could survive that hit. _Daniel thought to himself. _That means he has a lot of potential as a duelist. __Now to see if he can adapt and change, like he said to Jaden._ "I end my turn."

Hassleberry quickly drew and took the initiative. "I activate Jurrac Titano's effect, banishing 1 Dino from my grave to give it 1000 more attack."  
Daniel, however, was waiting for that. "I activate the effect of Evolzar Dolkka! He can detatch 1 unit to negate a monster's effect and destroy it."  
Hassleberry was in trouble and knew it. He quickly skimmed over his hand and saw something unusual. One of the monsters said "Tuner" where "Effect" should be. _This must be one of those Tuner monsters Daniel told me about! If I want to win this duel, I'll have to evolve my playing style!_ "I summon Jurrac Monoloph. I'll tune these monsters on my field to bring out a level 7 Synchro monster. Come out Jurrac Giganoto!"  
_He finally did it. _Daniel noted. _He can handle these decks. But how well can he wield them?  
_Hassleberry then announced his plan. "His passive effect allows all Jurrac monsters I have to gain 200 attack for each Jurrac in my grave. So your Dolkka can't negate it! And I'm counting four Jurracs in my grave, so he has 2900 attack." (2100 + 800 = 2900) "Giganoto, attack his Dolkka!" The fiery Dino took out the great dragon with a flaming chomp. "You're move."_  
_

**Daniel: LP 1,800, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Evolsaur Elias (Evoltile'd)' 'Evoltsaur Westlo X2'/1**  
**Hassleberry: LP 1,200, H 1, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Jurrac Giganoto'/0**

Daniel was proud of Hassleberry's adaptability. However, he wanted to see how far it would go. "I'll set a monster and a card. Your move."

Hassleberry recognized the card he drew. "I play Pot of Greed to let me draw 2 cards." He then drew two cards. These cards were familiar as well. "Sweet! I'll activate Tail Swipe. First, I call Jurrac Giganoto to order. Now, I can return 2 monsters to your hand, as long as they have less levels than Giganoto or are face-down. I choose Elias and your face-down." With those monsters gone, Hasslberry entered his battle phase. "I'll attack one of your Westlos!" Giganoto easily tore through the little lizzard. "I'll set one card, and it's your move."

**Daniel: LP 1,800, H 1, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Evoltsaur Westlo'/0**  
**Hassleberry: LP 1,200, H 1, S/T 0/3, F 0, M 'Jurrac Giganoto'/0**

Daniel was disappointed with his draw. _That's the problem with Evols. They can have good early games, but lose speed fast._ "I'll set a monster and a card. Your move."

When he saw his drawn card, Hassleberry grinned. He knew that card as well. "Game over buddy. I play my trap. Jurrac Impact! I destroy all cards on the field."  
_Darn it! _Daniel thought. _My set __Evo-Miracles can't protect any of my monsters, since they aren't face-up Evolsaurs summoned by an Evoltile!_  
Hassleberry, however, was on a roll. "I now summon Jurrac Iguanon." (1700) "I also play Jurassic World to boost his attack by 300." (2000) "Iguanon, obliterate his bunkers!" With that command, the Dino hit Daniel with a flaming tail for the win.

**Hassleberry Wins!**

"Good job with that deck Sargent. It took you awhile to remember you could summon from your extra deck without the need of a fusion card. But you successfully performed a Synchro Summon. Not only that, you used it for two other card effects that let you win this duel. For the successful Synchro alone, you deserve one of these two decks." Hearing that made the Sarge a little embarrassed "How about we head over to the Red Dorm and decide there which deck you shall take? I have another friend there that's waiting for a deck as well."

"Sir yes sir! However, I want to bunk with them now, so let me pack my supplies."

Smiling at being his superior, Daniel got into the role. "Our plan of attack is to ambush the Red Base at Fourteen Hundred hours. I want you infiltrated and unpacked by Fourteen Hundred Ten! Do you hear me?"

Grinning at the charade, Hassleberry saluted and gave a loud "Sir! Yes Sir!"

"Companyyyyyyyyyy Diiiis-missed!" With those words, the Sarge marched back to Ra Yellow to pack, and Daniel chuckled as he made his way to his friends in Slifer Red.

* * *

**That's game!**

**There's a poll going up on my page that asks which archetype Hassleberry and Syrus get. Since they're rivals for 'Jaden's best friend', I thought this would be a perfect way to start introducing 3rd-4th Anime Generation cards to the school. Please vote once for each person.**

**The next chapter will take while, due to the necessity of the poll, and the mixing of the poll's result with their current decks.**

* * *

**The next chapter will be: Pure Insect/Underground Arachnid (with Dark Insect Tuners).**

**AnonymousGX**


	6. Duel 6: Misty vs Syrus

When Hassleberry arrived at the Red Dorm, a few minutes after Daniel, he started to unpack in Jaden's room. This caused two problems with two certain inhabitants. Syrus was upset that the bully who took his duel disk, deck, and lunch money was moving into his room, but Hassleberry told him that he'd changed platoons, and planned to bunk with Jaden. This caused the second problem. The three beds were already taken, by Jaden, Syrus, and Naruto. In response, Hassleberry pulled out a sleeping bag, and was perfectly fine to 'sleep in the bunkers'. However, even Naruto, who's been known to use smelly things during battles, couldn't stand the scent of him and his stuff.

Soon after Jaden tried to calm everyone down, and failing, they noticed the door was open. "Behold, the dweebs, in their natural habitat." Chazz was there, holding up a camera.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" Naruto said, snatching the camera away from him. "One of us could have been dressing!"

"I figured that, since I'm stuck here with you losers in this roach motel you call a dorm, I'd start a live TV show. 'The Chazz and How the Other Side Lives'. A documentary about a great duelist, forced to live among Slifer Slackers."

"Considering you lost to Jaden, I wonder who the real Slacker is," Syrus asked, a little timidly. Upon hearing that, Chazz almost slipped.

"He may be onto something guys," Jaden pondered. "But your show needs a plot twist."

While thinking about a possible plot twist, the door opened up. The first person who came in was Sakura, who was quickly glomped by a lonely Naruto. The second was Alexis. "Excuse me," the latter girl said. "Is there room for me here?"

"Wait, we are allowed to live in other dorms?" Sakura asked. "WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL US THIS BEFORE? Naruto, mind if I join you here?" she asked, in a way that made Naruto start to blush.

"Now there are our interesting plot twists," Hassleberry said, before he was knocked into the opposite wall by a fist connected to a pinkette. "Sam Hill! What was that for?"

"Well Sakura," Daniel explained, calming the irritated female, "you're allowed to bunk in dorms below you in rank. However, you must continue to pay the price of being, in your case, a Ra Yellow, as well as for a room and food in Slifer Red. Also, you must have duels every once in a while to prove to faculty that you still deserve the rank of Ra Yellow." Hearing that she could stay with Naruto made Sakura hug him back. "Also, the boys dorms are on the second floor, while the girls bunk on the first. So you can't share a room with Naruto. The only exception to the floor design is Chazz, for two excellent reasons. First, he always wears that open tattered dress he calls a stylish jacket. Second, his ego is so big, his dorm needs both floors!"

Chazz was so lucky Naruto turned off the camera, because it saved him the humiliation of not only what Daniel said, but everybody's laughter from being caught on tape. Even Alexis had to cover her mouth to hide a small giggle. After everyone recovered, Jaden realized something, "Now that we know why Sakura's here, can you tell us why you're here Alexis?"

"I left Obelisk Blue for good."

"Well, Alexis. If you want to stay in this dump, I must insist on having you stay in my renovated wing," Chazz said, failing to charm her. "Would you like to check it out? I can give you the grand tour."

"Chazz, remember what I said about boys and girls living and sleeping separate from each other?" Daniel chastised him. "However, who are we to deny an invitation to your private quarters? Besides, I'd rather listen to Alexis's explanation somewhere we can all sit down and be comfortable."

"Wait a minute! I didn't say all of you..." but it was too late. Everybody pushed past him and took a left, entering the mysterious 'Chazz Wing'.

Chazz really went out of his way, and then some, for comfort. While some parts screamed comfy, cozy, and class, others screamed costly, crazy, and confusing. One such thing caught Jaden's attention quickly. "You have a waterfall inside a spa? Isn't that overkill?"

"Overkill?" Syrus asked. "What about that bowling alley and 3-ring circus we passed?"

"High ceilings? Tons of space? Chazz actually did a great job here." Alexis praised. "Daniel, are you sure I can't crash here?"

"The space is all to fit his ego. Speaking of overkill Sy, did you see his bedroom?" Daniel asked. "Why he'd need 2 king sized beds, each with their own divider curtain, is something I don't want explained to me. And as for your question Alexis, it depends on if this extension counts as part of the dorm or is legally Chazz's 'vacation home'." Smirking, he then turned to Naruto. "Naruto, if this is truly Chazz's extension rather than Slifer dorms, the dorm rules don't apply here. Want to ask him if you could borrow one of the beds?" He smirked at his and Sakura's bright blushes, then quickly leaned left, feeling only a slight breeze. "Really Sakura? I learned my lesson about how hard you can punch the first five times. Besides, I saw you give Naruto a big hug a few minutes ago. I'm pretty sure you missed him a lot, and would like to see him more often." After teasing her, he had to swiftly leaned right, then duck and jump back.

"No Slifer Slacker is going to be sleeping with me!" Chazz shouted, closing the door behind him. "Since we're all here, can we please have Alexis tell us why she's here, so that I can kick the rest of you out as soon as possible?" Calming down, he turned to the to-be-resident Blue. "Feel free to stay as long as you want."

Alexis just ignored him. As much as she wanted to say she was with Jaden, she still had an image to keep up. After everybody found a comfy couch, or a wall with a nice rug under it for others, she began her story by pulling something out of her bag. It was a big, frilly, hot pink dress with a low cut collar and short poofy shoulders. Chazz, Syrus, and Hassleberry were awed. "Nice... uniform maam."

"It looks good, but it doesn't seem like you," Jaden commented, making Alexis work down a blush.

"I agree with Kuriboh-head/Jaden," Naruto and Daniel said together. "I wouldn't look at the upper torso even if it was on a bar waitress," Daniel added on.

"Please, you think this was my idea?" Alexis asked, glad that half the boys thought with their brains. "It was Crowler's. He wanted me to wear this and sing while dueling!"

"He tried that with me too, even offering to make it a tag team duet," Daniel spoke up. Seeing Alexis' harsh look, Daniel understood what he implied. "I SAID NO!" Her look softened a little. "My outfit had a shirt with a very low V, almost to my belly button! And while I like to sing, it would be hard to improv the cards played into the song, since duels can change on a dime. But I guess that Crowler didn't want to listen to reason."

"Ouch," Alexis actually cringed at the thought of being the Tag Team Singing partner to that shirt. "Can anybody imagine us singing and wearing those things?" She soon saw that three boys had blushes. "Guys!" With that queue, Sakura gave them all backhands to the cheeks.

"You're right," Jaden spoke up. "Who's want to see you wearing that?"

"Jaden, it's not only about the dress," Chazz reminded the boy.

"Yeah! It's about Crowler too," Daniel added.

"Crowler's going to wear that dress too?"

That thought grossed out many of the boys. While Crowler could be mistaken for a female in every way, the image of him in that dress... "NO!"

"Then, is he wearing the shirt Daniel mentioned?" Jaden, ever clueless, pondered. That idea scared the boys, and even Alexis, more so than him in the dress.

"Now that Crowler's in charge, his crazed ideas are even more dangerous," Alexis told him, almost sagely.

"I didn't see him last year," Daniel commented, "But I can tell the power, and the publicity, went straight to his head."

"Wait a minute," Naruto said, slowly piecing together the big picture. "So the Creepy Crawler wants to use us to make himself even bigger?"

"Basically," Alexis told him. _Why is it even Naruto could figure this out before Jaden? _

"In that case, we have to resist him!" Jaden said.

"Maybe," Daniel noted, "but it'll be us that'll look better, not him." Everyone turned to Daniel. "If we duel, we'll get the pictures, and maybe the headlines. Crowler will be lucky if his name's mentioned rather than Duel Academy."

"Syrus, are you here?" Somebody called, entering the room.

"What did I tell you slackers..." Chazz cut himself off. It was Bastion, a duelist with anticipation abilities that rivaled or surpassed even Daniel's. And Daniel knew it, since Sakura introduced each other when Daniel went to visit her the day before. "Oh. It's you. What do you want with the shorty of the slackers? Shouldn't you be asking for me?"

"What is it you want to tell me?" Syrus asked quietly.

"A Duel." This caught many of the students there by surprise. Calculating Bastion vs nervous Syrus?

Syrus knew he was in trouble. "A Duel? Me against you?!"

"No, not me," Bastion clarified. "A girl from the Obelisk Dorms. Her name is Misty."

"Misty, the orange haired water girl who's afraid of bugs?" Syrus asked, hopeful.

"No, Misty, the purple haired girl who loves bugs, and duels using Insect-types."

"I met her!" Naruto almost shouted. All eyes turned to him, and he sheepishly sat back down. "She was very interested in my Inzektors, and asked to see my monsters. She seemed to fawn over a few cards more than others."

"I've watched some of her duels," Alexis commented. "While her outfit and hair creep me out, she's really good."

This announcement lowered Syrus' spirit. "Hey Bastion," Daniel asked him. "when is this duel of Sy's?"

"Tomorrow morning, an hour after breakfast."

Hearing about the short notice made Syrus run to his room. Hassleberry was the only one who went after him. After a few minutes of sense silence, Daniel decided to break it. "Why is Hassleberry going after Syrus and not Jaden? I thought those two didn't like each other." Without a response, and remembering something, Daniel excused himself. He found Hassleberry alone in Sy's room, who pointed Daniel outside.

After looking around, Daniel found him near the cliff behind the dorm, looking out into the ocean. "I am not going to be left behind! I will not be afraid!"

"That's the spirit!" Daniel praised, surprising Syrus. "We have just enough time to go over the decks and decide which to use. The Synchros of two of them or the XYZs of the other are sure to help you win! Not that you'd need their help." Syrus started to cheer up, and sat next to Daniel as he pulled out the first deck. "Now, this deck..."

* * *

A few minutes before the duel, the stadium was 3/4 full. Surprisingly, the missing 1/4 were the middle quarter. Either side of the halfway point of the duel were empty, except for Crowler and Bonaparte.

"Why doesn't anyone sit there?" Naruto asked. "Why aren't _we_ sitting there? That's the best view of both sides!"

"Because we're not here to just view the duel," Jaden told him. "We're here to support Syrus."

"I guess you're right," Naruto pouted, before standing up. "You can do it Sy! Squash that girl and her roaches!"

"You're Zane's brother?" The opponent asked. "You're not like I was expecting. Look at him." She opened the locket on her necklace. "I'm like his biggest fan! We're meant to be together."

"And this is why I don't like being Pro," Daniel said, shuddering. "The fangirls think they're my dreams come true, but are usually savage piranhas or scavenging vultures."

"Does she think she'll impress Zane with that look?" Alexis asked. "What's up with her hair?"

"It looks like a beetle," Naruto spoke up, "with antennae and those armored wing protectors."

"Of course our resident bug duelist would know that," Daniel teased him with a noggie.

"So, when I win, I'm gonna leave you, go Pro, and make Zane mine."

"She's no piranha or vulture, she's an arachnid!" Daniel said, taking the fetal position while on the chair. "I had one of them once... It was horrible..."

"How bad can a girl get?" Jaden asked.

"Very bad," Sakura told him. "When many female arachnids find a mate, they drag him into their den and have as much fun with the mate as they can. When the male no longer interests her, she then kill the mate and suck him dry until she's satisfied."

"That's why I call that kind of fangirl an arachnid," Daniel spoke softly. Now, many of the boys were scared of Misty and what she might do to Zane. Abruptly, Daniel stood up. "Beat that fangirl Syrus! If not to be promoted to Yellow, then to protect your big brother!" However, that statement only made Syrus more nervous.

**Duel!**

**Misty: ****LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**  
Syrus: **LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**

"Gentlemen always let the ladies go first," Misty said. "Look out!" She quickly glanced at her hand and smiled. I'll set 1 monster and 1 card. You're up."

"Did she get ready for this duel in the dark," Alexis asked, "or does she think that monstrosity actually looks good?"  
"Alexis, focus," Jaden told her. "There's a duel going on now, and Syrus is in it."

Syrus screwed up his courage and drew his card. "I summon Drillroid." (1600) "Drillroid, attack her set monster." As Drillroid dug into the ground, Syrus made his move. "When he attacks a monster in defense mode, his effect activates, destroying the monster!" Drillroid came from right below the monster, destroying it quickly, before returning to Sy's side of the field. People started to cheer, seeing that attack, making Syrus blush. However, the cheers were silenced when they saw what monster Misty had set.  
Misty, however, took advantage of it. "Well, you're out of luck. The destroyed Pinch Hopper has an effect too. He lets me summon an insect from my hand. I choose Insect Queen. Appear, your Majesty!" (2200).  
When the attack points of her monster were revealed, Syrus lost some of his confidence. "I set 1 card, and end my turn."

**Misty: ****LP 4,000, H 3, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Insect Queen'/0**  
Syrus: **LP 4,000, H 4, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Drillroid'/0**

Misty smiled. "Did my last move bug you? Because it'll get worse from here! I play the spell card Worm Bait, summoning 2 Worm Tokens to my field. I now tribute one of them to summon Insect Princess." (1900) "Insect Princess has a special ability. She can gain attack points every time an insect is destroyed."  
Syrus smirked at that effect. "Bad new for you! I don't use Insects!"  
Misty continued to smile. "You do now, when I play the continuous trap DNA Surgery. Now, all face-up monsters are treated as Insects!" Syrus was in shock, watching Drillroid turn into what looked like a beetle with a drill for a horn. "I now play Insect Barrier. Your insects can't attack. And since you now can only control insects, you can't attack at all!"

"This is bad," Bastion said.  
"That's true," Daniel agreed. "As long as those two cards are out, Syrus can't attack, and any monster he brings out will only power up hers. Only one monster can save him now, but I doubt he'll be able to bring it out easily."

Misty began her battle phase. "Insect Princess, attack DrillRoid!" Silver wind with her scales clash on the Roid, destroying it. "Now that she's destroyed your insect, she gains 500 attack." (1900 + 500 = 2400). "Now, by devouring the Worm Token, Insect Queen can attack directly!" After munching on the token, Syrus was attacked with a shot of what appeared to be spider thread. "I end my turn with Insect Queen's effect. She summons an Insect Monster Token in attack mode." (100)

When Syrus saw his drawn card, he regained some of his confidence. "I summon Shuttleroid and set 1 card. Your move." (1000)

**Misty: ****LP 4,000, H 1, S/T 'DNA Surgury (Insect)' 'Insect Barrier'/0, F 0, M 'Insect Queen' 'Insect Princess (1)' 'Insect Monster Token'/0**  
Syrus: **LP 1,500, H 3, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Shuttleroid'/0**

Surprised by this move, Misty drew. With nothing she could use in her hand, she made the obvious move. "Insect Princess, attack!"  
"I was waiting for that!" Syrus announced. "When he's attacked, Shuttleroid's effect activates, banishing itself."  
"In that case, I'll attack you directly! Game Over."  
"Not so fast! I have a trap. Maybe you've heard of it.  
"That's Mirror Force! But that means..."  
"That's right! All your monsters are destroyed!" A chain of explosions destroyed every monster Misty had on the field.  
With her advantage taken away, Misty got a little cross. "You won't stop me from seeing my precious Zane so easily. I set a monster and end my turn."

"Nice tactics," Hassleberry commented.  
"If you thought that was good," Daniel said, "I saw Shuttleroid's full effect while helping him decide which deck to mix with his Roids."

Said effect was revealed soon after Syrus drew his card. "Shuttleroid now returns to the field in defense mode, and deals you 1000 damage!" From behind her, Misty saw it come in too hot. Literally, she was burned with 1000 damage as it returned to Sy's side of the field. (1200) "I'll set one monster. It's your move.

**Misty: ****LP 3,000, H 1, S/T 'DNA Surgury (Insect)' 'Insect Barrier'/0, F 0, M 0/1**  
Syrus: **LP 1,500, H 3, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Shuttleroid'/1**

Misty couldn't do anything against Shuttleroid, and didn't have a monster with enough attack points to risk a battle phase. Keeping a confident charade, she set 1 monster and ended her turn.

Syrus saw her defensiveness and regained some more courage. "I'll tribute Truckroid for RescueRoid!" (1600) "I end my turn."

"What's Syrus doing?" Naruto asked. "He got rid of a monster with 2000 defense for another with less attack and defense than 2000!"  
"I'm not sure," Daniel noted. "But he couldn't attack using Truckroid, so it was useless. I wonder if it has to do with him having those monsters in his grave. If that's true, I wonder if he's going to bring out that fusion card..."  
"If he's going to Fusion, he needs to use his Power Bond."  
"But he can't. It's not in his deck," was the sad news given to the group.  
Surprised, Jaden opened the envelope given to him. "Power Bond? How could you?"  
Hassleberry grabbed the offending collar. "Explain yourself private!"  
Naruto was surprised as well. "Why did you take it Daniel?"  
"Because he gave it to me. He told me he needed to win without it, and to give it to you. I told him to keep it, in order to honor himself, his brother, and Misty, but he insisted. Besides Jaden, if he were to use Power Bond, but the summoned monster was unable to battle, wouldn't that mean he'd lose?" That last question made Jaden sheepish.

**Misty: ****LP 3,000, H 1, S/T 'DNA Surgury (Insect)' 'Insect Barrier'/0, F 0, M 0/2**  
Syrus: **LP 1,500, H 3, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Shuttleroid' 'RescueRoid'/0**

Seeing an opening, Misty was even more excited when she saw her drawn monster. "I'll tribute both my Howling Insect and Gokipon for Brain Crusher." (2400) "Go! Attack Rescueroid!"  
Syrus played another move. "I have another trap, Magic Cylinder! Now, instead of my monster being attacked, you're now the target!" Brain Crusher flew through the connected tubes and attacked Misty.  
Seeing her LP in danger, Misty got desperate. "I end my turn. Don't think that little trick will work again dork. I will win and meet my precious Zany!"

Beaming, Syrus began his turn. "Draw! I summon Expressroid. When he's summoned, he adds Truckroid and Drillroid to my hand."

"I was right!" Daniel cheered. "But how will that monster attack with those cards on the field? He still hasn't brought out the monster needed to turn this duel around."

Syrus wasn't done with Expressroid. "I play Vehicroid Connection Zone! Now, the Rescueroid and ExpressRoid on my field, and the Drillroid, Truckroid, and Stealthroid in my hand are fusion material for Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine! Barbaroid, due to Vehicroid Connection Zone's effect, cannot be destroyed by effects, and his effects can't be negated. You're move!" (4000)

**Misty: ****LP 600, H 1, S/T 'DNA Surgury (Insect)' 'Insect Barrier'/0, F 0, M 'Brain Crusher'/0**  
Syrus: **LP 1,500, H 2, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Shuttleroid' 'Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine (VCZ summoned)'/0**

Staring down a powerful monster made Misty nervous. "I switch Brain Crusher to defense mode, set a monster, and end my turn."

Syrus' drawn card couldn't help, so he ended his turn.

**Misty: LP 600, H 1, S/T 'DNA Surgury (Insect)' 'Insect Barrier'/0, F 0, M 'Brain Crusher'/1**  
**Syrus: LP 1,500, H 2, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Shuttleroid' 'Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine (VCZ summoned)'/0**

Misty, since her monster survived the turn, saw an advantage. "I normal summon Infernity Beetle, and flip summon Pinch Hopper. I'll tune my level 2 Infernity Beetle and level 4 Pinch Hopper. Synchro summon Underground Arachnid, in defense mode." (1200)

"Wait a minute..." Naruto said, checking his deck. "She stole my cards! Those are my tuners and synchros!"

Meanwhile Misty was thinking over her two options. _If I equip Barbaroid, he can't attack me. However, Shuttleroid's effect can wipe out my life points if one of those two set cards stops my attacks._ "I activate the effect of my Underground Arachnid. Once per turn, she can ensnare a monster you control as an equip card. I choose your Shuttle!" _Now, should Barbaroid ever attack, Underground Arachnid will be safe, and can then equip Barbaros and attack directly._ "I end my turn."

Syrus didn't draw the card he needed to attack, and ended his turn.

**Misty: LP 600, H 1, S/T 'DNA Surgury (Insect)' 'Insect Barrier' 'Shuttleroid(UA)'/0, F 0, M 'Brain Crusher' 'Underground Arachnid'/0**  
**Syrus: LP 1,500, H 3, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 'Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine (VCZ summoned)'/0**

Misty's draw couldn't help her. "I'll set a monster. You're move. Face it dweeb, even if you got lucky with that monster, I'm going to win, so you might as well give up."

"There's no way I'll just give up. I've conquered my fear!" Syrus announced. "It's my turn. Draw!" _Finally, I can do this. "_I activate the continuous spell Wind-Up Factory. I now normal summon Wind-Up Rat."  
_Wind-Up? _Misty worried. _What are those cards? They're not Roids._  
"Since a Wind-Up was summoned, Wind-Up Shark can special summon itself. I now use his effect, lowering himself to a level 3." As Misty realized this meant an XYZ summon, Syrus continued his turn. "Now, Wind-Up Factory activates, adding another Wind-Up to my hand. I choose Wind-Up Rat. I'll overlay Wind-Ups Shark and Rat, to XYZ summon Wind-Up Zenmaines in Defense Mode." (2100) "I set one card, and end my turn."

"And with that card," Daniel spoke sagely, "he can win this duel."  
"And how would that work?" Bastion asked. "It's in defense mode, and has less defense than both of her monsters."  
"You'll see..." Daniel told him mysteriously.

**Misty: LP 600, H 1, S/T 'DNA Surgury (Insect)' 'Insect Barrier' 'Shuttleroid(UA)'/0, F 0, M 'Brain Crusher' 'Underground Arachnid'/1**  
**Syrus: LP 1,500, H 1, S/T 0/3, F 0, M 'Wind-Up Zenmaines (2)' 'Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine (VCZ summoned)'/0**

Misty wondered what that black card's effect was. _Whatever it does, I have to destroy it._ "My move, Draw!" _What luck! This will make things easier. _"I tribute Howling Insect for Insect Princess." (1900) "Her effect forces all your insect monsters into attack mode." (Zenmaines 1500). I'll switch Brain Crusher and Underground Arachnid to attack mode as well." (2400). "Insect Princess, attack his Zenmaines!"  
"I detatch an overlay unit to prevent Zenmaines from being destroyed," Syrus called as he lost life points.  
"Well then, I'll just have to attack with Underground Arachnid!" _If he defends his XYZ again, I can attack with Brain Crusher to win.  
_"I activate my trap! Overwind!"  
_That's the trap he first set! Did he plan this far ahead? _Misty wondered.  
"This trap lets me double the attack of a Wind-Up on the field!" (1500 x2 = 3000)  
"Wait! But this means... I'll never see my darling Zane!"  
"Say goodbye to your life points, because they're about to be squashed!"

**Syrus Wins!**

When the smoke cleared from the attack, Syrus was standing with his legs spread, his eyes closed, and his right hand outstretched in the Victory V. The crowd went wild while Daniel said one phrase, "Show-off," before joining them and his friends. When Crowler announced "Zane's little brother" as the winner, Syrus complained about how he wanted to be known for himself, not in his brother's shadow.

"Zaney!" Misty wailed, "I'll never..." She then looked harder into the stands behind Syrus. "Danny-poo? Is that you?"

"Uh corporal, how do you know her?" Hassleberry asked Daniel. However, Daniel was gone. When he turned to ask where he went, he saw that Sakura and Naruto's faces were ashen white. "What's with you two, do you know this girl?"

"... yes..." Sakura spoke quietly. "Remember that one arachnid fangirl Daniel had?"

"Yeah... Don't tell me..."

"That's right," Naruto spoke up. "She was the arachnid." Soon, Naruto's cell phone went off for a text message. After typing a response, he turned to his friends. "Daniel says that Misty saw him in an Obelisk Blue uniform, so she'll likely turn the Obelisk Dorm upside down searching for him. He asked if he can bunk with us, and I said yes. Is it okay with all of you?" Seeing Misty's fevered rush to their location, they quickly agreed and ran for their lives.

* * *

A few minutes later, Daniel was hiding, cramped underneath Jaden's bedframe, while everyone else was congratulating Syrus on making it to Ra Yellow. Except for Chazz, who was complaining that it should have been him. After two more waterfalls joined Chazz's spa for a few minutes and Jaden returned Power Bond, Syrus left, got his uniform, and rejoined them around dinner time.

"Hassleberry! Get out of my seat!"

"It's my seat now, since you moved out into the Yellow barracks!"

"Well, if you can stay, then so can I! And since I never unpacked, don't even think about taking my bed!"

"Wow Private. Since when were you this confident?"

"Since you spoke to me last night, Sarge." Syrus told him, grinning.

"Let's take this war outside!" Hassleberry growled.

"Why don't you take your plate and go get Daniel some food? I don't see him down here, so he must still be hiding from Misty."

Cringing at the thought of Misty, Hassleberry grabbed a second plate and went upstairs. He put both plates on the desk, and gently lifted the bedding. "Daniel?"

He was then tackled and pinned to the ground by a whirlwind. "YOU WON'T TAKE ME ALIVE AGAIN Misty! Hassleberry, is that you?" Sheepishly, Daniel got off his back. "I'm sorry, I thought Misty found me again."

"Nice... ouch... guerrilla tactics there... that smarts..." the Sargent groaned, getting up. He then grabbed Daniel's plate. "Here, I brought up some food. You can't bunker down like that without a stock of food."

Daniel grabbed the plate, finished it in record time, handed it back to Sarge, and dove back under the bed. Surprised at his antics, Hassleberry grabbed both plates, left the room, and closed the door after him.

* * *

**That's game! How did that duel go?**

**Next time, I'd like to see: Evigishki. I actually can't make a good deck using this very easily, so please help me over duelingnetwork!**

**AnonymousGX**


	7. Duel 7: Sakura vs Masked Person

**Here's chapter 7! Bradw315 isn't entirely happy with this chapter, but I'm going to flesh this out and see how he likes it. I didn't get a reason from him, so I think it's because of where the plot seems to be going from here. That, and he might not know my source material from Naruto.**

* * *

Naruto managed to get Misty to return his cards. All he had to do was tell Misty where Daniel's room was. However, Naruto told her where his OBELISK room was, not his SLIFER room. The next morning, everyone was shocked at the state of the Obelisk Blue. When Misty didn't find Daniel in his room, she want Tasmanian Devil on the entire building, surprisingly leaving the structure intact.

The next week was a horror story made true for Jaden. When Aster revealed his true deck, everyone was shocked that he used Elemental Heroes as well. He then claimed that somebody was copying his deck. While everyone was upset that a duelist would steal Aster's style, Daniel facepalmed and told them that Aster was lying. The boy Aster was talking about was obviously Jaden, but Jaden couldn't have copied Aster, since Aster never revealed his deck to anybody. For all the group knew, Aster made that deck AFTER seeing Jaden's, not before!

At first, the rematch challenge excited Jaden and made Naruto envious. As much as Naruto wanted to duel Aster again, this wasn't a casual duel he could interrupt. Daniel offered Jaden some new monsters, but he refused them. If he was to win, it was to prove he was the true Elemental Hero Duelist, not Aster. And since Daniel didn't have any Elemental Hero XYZ, Synchros, or Tuners, he couldn't help Jaden.

The rematch started off evenly matched, but then Aster made a surprise move halfway in. He switched from E-Heroes to D-Heroes. While the others were in shock over the new Destiny Heroes, Daniel was shocked about the monsters themselves. They were a set of cards thought to be lost forever! Daniel realized that Aster was now revealing his true deck, and Aster confirmed it before wiping out Jaden's life points.

After the surprise ending, Jaden almost fainted. Forgetting the retreating Pro, everyone, even Naruto, tried to help Jaden. Together, they took him to the nurse. The nurse gave everyone her assessment of Jaden's condition the next afternoon. While Jaden was weak, he wasn't in any health danger. But what really surprised them was that Jaden couldn't see his cards. Everyone could see that Jaden had lost something important to him, and that he was feeling down. And with Jaden out of the Duelist circles, everyone thought it likely that Vice-President Shorty would tear down the Red Dorm. To everyone's surprise, Chazz was the one who rallied the Jaden Club's spirits.

It would have been a perfect Kodak Moment, if it wasn't ruined by a guitar was the tuned too sharp and a boy who was singing too flat that was soon heard in the background. To further ruin the moment, the boat said boy was riding was tugged along from under the boat by Crowler in a skin-tight dry-suit and basic snorkel gear. As it turns out, Crowler hadn't given up on the Pop Duelist idea, and called in Alexis' brother. While Alexis kept the dress to wear for Jaden, should the school ever have a dance or prom, she was still adamant about not participating in the crazed plan. Chazz, however, became divided from the group, imagining Alexis in that dress. Some of the alternate costumes Atticus presented didn't help either. The pressure between the two siblings almost made Chazz snap. That is, until Daniel reminded them of what shirt the lanky pale brother would be wearing right next to her. With that image pushing on her mind, Alexis accepted a duel challenge from her brother for the future of the pop duo.

The stadium was packed. Bonaparte was against the idea. "What's next? Children's Card Games on Motorcycles?" Crowler ignored him, and gave Atticus a Peter Pan entrance. Apparently, Atticus had quite a few fangirls of all ages, all wearing green bathrobes, and Chazz had to curl up beneath the seats where nobody could see him. '_Why am I the only one without a fangirl! I should be the famous duelist of Obelisk Blue, not a no-namer in the Slacker Dorm!'_ Crowler then gave Alexis an introduction that could only be called embarrassing. Chazz, however, ate it up like an omelette, sunny side up. During the duel, Chazz wore a pink bath robe over his black, which didn't help his appearance, and had a whiteboard and multi-colored markers which he used to make posters. After the first one, "bro-bro & _SISSY_", Daniel left to puke in the bathroom, and decided to sit behind Chazz, where he would no longer see any the front of the posters. After Alexis played her field spell, Daniel had to head to the bathroom again at Chazz's comment, and determined to sit in the back row, far away from Chazz. Even with a shaky start, and ending with 100 LP, Alexis soon won the duel with an exact finish, and brought the singing duelist careers short. After the duel, Chazz found a way to snag one of the life-sized pop-up posters of Alexis from Crowler; the one with the short red dress and the cut on the lower sides.

* * *

Sartorius was divining the future with his Tarot cards. The latest card he flipped was the Wheel of Fate. He mused about how powerful Jaden's soul was, and determined to find another, weaker soul, for him to work with.

_'This is my chance!'_ An entity thought. '_I can now get Sartorius to focus on Naruto! That boy will be a wrench in our plan if he remains loose!' _The entity's plans, however, were all for naught. The cards did not describe Naruto, but another boy. _'Wretched cards! These have been infused with too much of the true Purifying Light before I took control of another fraction. My power over the Purifying Light is not enough to change their readings and warn them of the boy from another world. I'll need to act through another wielder of my tainted cards. And I know just the cards, and wielder who has them all, to use.'_

A figure then walked into Sartorius' room on the plane. Said figure wore a cloak that hid all his identifying features. Even his face was covered and voice disguised. His mask was ovular with a pointed snout, white, and had four black spots, two of which were eye holes, each with two red rings that joined together at one edge of the spots. "We are almost at the academy, sir. Are we ready to spread the Light and the Purity?"

"Indeed we are. Let us go fulfill our destinies, and bring everyone to see the Light."

* * *

After dinner, the trio of friends were chatting alone in Sakura's dorm. "I can't believe Jaden can't see his cards!" Naruto exclaimed. "I really wanted to duel him!"

"Naruto, didn't you see it?"

"Eh?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. "See what?"

"That last attack," Sakura told him. "When it happened, I saw some kind of weird glowing mist come off Dreadmaster's card and attack. It almost hit Jaden full on, but his cards jumped out of his deck and saved him from the whole influence. If his cards didn't shield him, Jaden would have been a lot worse."

"Wait, what kind of energy?" Daniel asked. "Is it the cha-kara you talked about when you first got to Naruto's parent's home?"

"Daniel, how can you pronounce XYZ right when you see it spelled, but not chakra when you hear it?" Sakura asked the pro duelist. Embarassed, Daniel turned away. "It felt like chakra, but was weird. I never saw a genjutsu like that before."

"Gen-jutsu? That's the sleepy illusion stuff, right?" Naruto and Sakura gave him a nod. "Well, can't you guys 'wake him up' or something?"

"I wish I could," Sakura said.

"Oh yeah. You guys lost your chah-kerah when you came here." Daniel pondered. "Wait! Naruto, I saw your proctor duel! You got some KI and chakra back during that heated duel! Can you..."

"No," Naruto interrupted. "I was never good at releasing genjutsu, and I'm going to need every drop of chakra I can recover when I finally find him."

"In that case," Daniel decided, pulling out his duel disk, "you'll have to duel your hardest and get more of your cha-krah back. It's time for our next rematch Naruto! We're not going to stop until you two have enough chakra to help Jaden and have more to spare!"

Before a duel could get started, Syrus slammed the door open. "JADEN! Have you guys seen Jaden?"

"No we haven't. Not since that delicious ramen dinner... Where is he, anyway?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, he's disappeared!" Those words shocked the trio. Soon, they had separated and were scouring the island, looking for their lost friend alongside the other members of the Jaden Club.

* * *

While searching the woods, Sakura got tired and rested by a tree. Soon, a low fog rolled in. _'That's weird, fog doesn't move like this. Wait, fog shouldn't appear on this island at all!'_ Sakura was quickly in a defensive stance, looking around for the source of the fog.

"Hello student. Are you lost? I may be able to help you." A deep voice was rolling, echoing, from the fog.

"Who are you? Are you a vengeful Duel Spirit?"

The voice was silent for while, giving Sakura chills down her spine. "I am not a Duel Spirit." A figure approached from the fog, cloaked and masked. "I am here to Purify all, and want you to join with me."

"Join a creep like you? Not likely at all!"

"How about a duel? I win, you join the Society of Light and embrace the Purity. No matter how it ends, I guide you out of here and back to the academy."

Sakura was low on options and knew it. After a few seconds, she activated her duel disk. "Fine! Don't expect to win though!"

**Duel!  
****Sakura: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**  
**Masked Person: LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**  


"Since you challenged me, and ladies first, I'll draw!" Sakura announced. "I play the continuous spell Card Trader. If I don't like a card in my hand, I can swap it out for another in my deck. I set one monster and one card, and end my turn."

"My turn then." The masked figure drew. "I'll play my own continuous spell, Convulsion of Nature. This card makes us flip our decks upside down. We can now look at the top cards of each of our decks." Sure enough, once their decks were flipped, a large holograph with the upcoming card appeared beside the card's respective duelist. Sakura was coming up on Esper Girl, while the hooded figure had a strange ritual monster known as Evigishki Soul Ogre. "I play the spell card Painful Choice. First, I choose 5 cards in my deck. Four will go to the grave, while the one you pick gets added to my hand." Five holographs appeared between the two duelists. They were named Evigishki Soul Ogre, Gishki Abyss, two Djinn Releaser of Rituals, and Djinn Presider of Rituals. "Choose the card that shall live."  
_'I don't know any of these cards,' _Sakura worried. _'Why would he send a ritual monster to the grave? Well, when in doubt, choose the one with the least attack and levels._ "I choose Gishki Abyss." After the opponent's grave was filled, and deck shuffled face down. When the deck was flipped again, the top card was revealed as Gishki Shadow.  
"You're move wasn't random. It was destined to occur. I have seen the Light and embraced the Purity, and will win this duel. To prove it, I'll summon the Gishki Abyss you added to my hand. His effect lets me search out a Gishki with 1000 or less defense. I choose Gishki Shadow." His top card now became Ascending Soul. "I play the ritual spell Gishki Aquamirror. Now by using Gishki Abyss on my field and Djinn Cursenchanter of Rituals in my hand to summon Evigishki Gustkraken." (2400) "Behold, the Ritual Cards. These are the supreme form of this card game when they were Pure and first made. But now, the game has become tainted with a deck of monster cards not meant to exist. If we want to reach Purity, we must understand the power of human sacrifice, and undergo the proper rituals to become pure. We cannot be twisted and deformed, like these Fusions, XYZ, and Synchros. All must come to see the Light and become one mind. Then must then embrace the Purity and become one with mankind's highest state of mind and body. And the cards that family made must be eradicated."  
"You're wrong! These cards deserve to exist just as much as the originals Pegasus made!"  
"Your cards are a plague," the duelist pronounced. "And my cards will destroy them. I now reveal the effect of one of my Ritual tributes. When Djinn Cursenchanter is used for a ritual summon, while the ritual monster summoned remains face-up on the field, your Synchro monster effects are negated." The figure didn't let Sakura have enough time to be shocked over that pronouncement. "Battle. Gustkraken attacks your set monster."  
The mosnter grappled the card, flipping it face up. A pink lady was revealed, only to be struck through by the Kraken's Mirror Spear. "When my Serene Psychic witch is destroyed, I can banish a psychic monster from my deck, as long as it has 2000- attack. I choose Esper Girl!" After a blind shuffle, her top card became Card Trader.  
"I set one card and end my turn."

******Sakura: LP 4,000, H 3, S/T 'Card Trader'/1, F 0, M 0/0, Top 'Card Trader'**  
**Masked Person: LP 4,000, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Evigishki Gustkraken (Djinn Cursenchanter)'/0, Top 'Ascending Soul'**

"My move!" Sakura cried. The holograph behind her changed from Card Trader to Brain Hazard. "During my standby phase, Esper Girl gets summoned to the field." (300) "Her effect activates. Since she was summoned from the Banished zone, I can banish my top card face-down."  
"It doesn't matter," the masked duelist told her. "I already saw that card, and know it's effects."  
"That's not why I banished it!" Sakura revealed. "Since it's still my Standby Phase, I'll use the effect of Card Trader! I can now return the Card Trader I just drew to get another blind draw!"  
"Smart move. Using Card Trader, I won't be able to check your top card in detail."  
"That's right!" Sakura boasted. After a vigorous shuffling, a monster briefly appeared on top before it was added to Sakura's hand. Her new top card was Serene Psychic Witch. "I summon Hushed Psychic Clerk, who switches to defense mode by her own effect. Now, by discarding the Mental Seeker I drew, I can banish him from my grave! I tune my level 2 Esper Girl with the level 3 Clerk. Come out Magical Android!" (2400)  
"How dare you have summoned that perversion of a monster." her opponent told her. "It is monsters like those that must be erased from this world. And how will that monster beat mine without it's effect and equal attack points?"  
"All life forms are special!" Sakura countered. "Even if they are but a stepping stone! The effect of Hushed Psychic Clerk and Esper Girl activate now. My Banished Mental Seeker returns to the field, and my face-down card to my hand! His effect activates, letting me see the top three cards of your deck, and banish one of them!" Three holograms appeared in front of her. They were Ascending Soul, Gishki Marker, and Gishki Vision. _'One returns monsters from rituals, one can search out a ritual mosnter, the third returns any ritual-involving card in the grave.' "_I choose Gishki Marker!"  
"Again, your choice was not really a choice," the duelist was not making Sakura lose confidence. "For by using that monster and Banishing that card, the shuffle will bring me the card I need. Are you skeptical?" He asked, when he saw the look on Sakura's face. "Why don't you come over here and shuffle for me then?"  
Startled by the command, Sakura just stood there frozen for a few seconds. She then hesitantly made her way over to the masked man. While she did a shuffling even the gambling Tsunade would be proud of, she tried to sneak a glance though his tiny eyeholes. However, it was for naught, as there wasn't enough light to see his eyes or surrounding skin tone. When Sakura returned to her side of the field, the deck was flipped, and Forbidden Arts of the Gishki was revealed. "I now tune my level 5 Magical Android with my level 3 Mental Seeker! Synchro summon Thought Ruler Archfiend!" (2700) "I don't care if his effect's negated, he still has enough attack to defeat your monster!" In a shower of pixels, the ritual monster was destroyed. Even when taking 300 points of battle damage, the masked male didn't react at all to her move. "Now that your monster is off the field, I can activate Thought Ruler Archfiend's special ability! I now regain life points equal to your monster's attack! With that boost in my life points, I'll set a card and end my turn."

After her opponent drew, the top card became Contact with the Aquamirror. "I activate the effect of the Gishki Aquamirror in my grave. By returning it to the deck, I can add a Ritual monster to my hand from the grave. I choose Evishki Soul Ogre. Now, here is your proof that this duel was decided from the start. I now play Forbidden Arts of the Gishki. I can ritual summon using cards on any player's side of the field. By tributing your Synchro, I have exactly enough stars to summon Soul Ogre." (2800) "I cannot conduct my battle phase, and the summoned monster's attack is cut in half." (2800/2 = 1400). "However, that attack loss won't be permanent. Trap Card, reveal yourself. Interdimensional Matter Transporter. By it's effect, my Soul Ogre is banished." Said monster was sucked into a black hole. "I end my turn. Now, my monster returns with it's full strength." (2800).

******Sakura: LP 6,400, H 2, S/T 'Card Trader'/2, F 0, M 0/0, Top 'Serene Psychic Witch'**  
**Masked Person: LP 3,700, H 2, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 'Evigishki Soul Ogre'/0, Top 'Contact with the Aquamirror'**

Sakura's upcoming card was Silent Psychic Wizard. But Sakura was too nervous to notice._ 'First I choose to give him the monster that brought out the first ritual monster. Then I send the ritual monster he would need later to his grave. I shuffled his deck and gave him that ritual spell. AND I gave him the very monster he needed to bring it out! Is this duel really decided by fate?' _"I set one monster. Your turn."

_'Her spirit is breaking. It will be much easier to Purify her if she's like this.'_ "You are opening your eyes to the Light. Embrace it, foreswear your Extra Deck and monsters from that family, and surrender to me. Let yourself be purified."  
_'Naruto's family? Wait, that's it! Naruto always fought fate and won! I can do the same!'_ "Nice try creepy guy, but I'm not losing that easily! My boyfriend cares for me, and I won't abandon him for some purification ritual!"  
"Why do hold onto your feelings?" The masked duelist asked. "Feelings bring nothing but despair and darkness. They feed envy, greed, jealosy, and hatred. Feelings make wars and destroy lands. Even among the Society of Light, there are those who retain a color of their old personality. In order for the world to be at peace, we all must sacrifice our hearts, be Purified into pure white, and let go of all our ties and attachments. I draw." The new top card is Gishki Aquamirror. "I activate Contact with the Aquamirror. Because I have both a water monster and a water ritual mosnter, I get to see your set cards and the top two cards of your deck." Silent Psychic Wizard and Card Trader appeared before the opponent only, and the two traps flipped for him to see. The set traps were Brain Hazzard and a previously unknown card Dimension Gate. He selected to place the two cards back on top in the order they were in, and the traps reset. "I summon Gishki Emilia. Her effect prevents you from using any trap cards on the field this turn. So no Dimension Gate this turn to protect your monster. Emilia, attack her monster."  
When the monster was destroyed, Sakura regained some confidence. "Serene Psychic Witch now banishes another Esper Girl." Her top card, after shuffling, was now Genetic Woman.  
"Why do you keep relying on those impurities? If the world is to find true peace, we must remove these blemishes from among us."  
"Because I believe what my boyfriend believes. It's only by evolving and bettering ourselves can we find not only peace, but a utopia."  
"You're beliefs and trust in one who is not Pure are foolish. Soul Ogre, attack her directly." The mirror on the monster's chest gleamed with light, and the Ogre smashed Sakura directly. "Because of Emilia, you couldn't use your other trap to bring Esper Girl back early and protect your life points. I end my turn. Since Emilia is a Spirit Monster, she returns to my hand. You should see by know that all your moves are hopeless and pre-determined. I am going to win."

******Sakura: LP 3,600, H 2, S/T 'Card Trader'/2, F 0, M 0/0, Top 'Genetic Woman'**  
**Masked Person: LP 3,700, H 2, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 'Evigishki Soul Ogre'/0, Top 'Gishki Aquamirror'**

Sakura, down but not out, was disappointed with her hand and top card. "I play Card Trader!" She seemed happy with the monster he glimpsed, before the hologram was replaced with Esper Girl. "Now, my banished Esper Girl returns to the field. Her effect banishes the Esper Girl on top of my deck." Esper Girl now became Silent Psychic Wizard. "I now summon Caam, Serenity of Gusto! Using these level 2 and 4 monsters, I Synchro Summon Daigusto Sphreez!" (2000) "Her effect returns Caam to my hand, and Esper Girl returns my banished card to my hand. I end my turn."

Unfazed by this move, the opponent drew a card and ended his turn.

******Sakura: LP 3,600, H 2, S/T 'Card Trader'/2, F 0, M 0/0, Top 'Silent Psychic Wizard'**  
**Masked Person: LP 3,700, H 3, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 'Evigishki Soul Ogre'/0, Top 'Evigishki Mind Augus'**

Sakura was surprised at this duelist. He was only scratched by her once. He was never surprised by her cards or moves. He even seemed to know about Sphreez's other ability! Unsatisfied with either her draw or Card Trader, she ended her turn. Seeing that her next card was Return from the Different Dimension, she knew she was in trouble as well.

"Okay mister dark and mysterious, who are you? The only people who know about these that well are Minato, Kushina, Daniel, myself..."  
"And me." With that announcement, the boy slowly reached up and pulled his mask off.  
Sakura was shocked at who was behind it. "It... It can't be!"  
"I have abandoned my old name. I have recently seen the Light and been Purified. My past, my self, my heart, have all been erased, removed, X'd out. I am now Xemman."  
"You can't be him! He was all right just a few hours ago!"  
"Believe what you will about me," Xemman told her. "I play Gishki Aquamirror. By sending the Gishki Vision in my hand to the graveyard, and Banishing the Djinn Cursenchanter of Ritauls in my graveyard, I can ritual summon Evigishki Mind Argus. His effect, when summoned, lets me return five cards to either players deck from their graveyards."  
"You can use Djinns from the grave?!" Sakura was shocked. She really did give him everything he needed to win, when his Painful Choice dumped three Djinns of Rituals into his grave.  
Xemman, however, made his choices. "I return Forbidden Arts of the Gishki, Contact with the Aquamirror, Gishki Vision, Gishki Abyss, and Evigishki Gustkraken." Once shuffled in, Preparation of Rites was on top of the deck. "Now, Djinn Cursenchanter negates all your synchro monster effects until Mind Augus is removed from the field."  
"No way!" Sakura cried. Now her Sphreez defense was useless!  
Xemman, however, knew he needed one more thing to win. "I summon Gishki Emilia. Her effect, once again, prevents you from using your traps. Evikishki Mind Augus, attack her Synchro."  
As the ritual monster destroyed her synchro, Sakura saw more of that mist similar to that in Aster and Jaden's duel. _'What's that stuff going to do to me?!'_ She asked, before she felt pain from the attack. It was real pain, like Naruto's accidental chakra rages during a duel, alongside a genjutsu. As much as she wanted to use chakra and stop the genjutsu, she didn't have any stored up over duels. However, as the pain left, Sakura could feel... something else slip away and become forgotten.  
"Gishki Emilia, attack her directly."  
The Spellcaster's hex stung Sakura badly, and made more... things leave her.  
"Do you feel it? Can you feel your thoughts, your emotions, your feelings, your memories, all fading? You are seeing the Light whist being Purified. Now, for the final step. Will you accept the Purification? Will you become one in all ways with me, forever? Will you come to understand true peace?"  
Sakura wasn't confused at all by his questions. Her lack of... self?... felt liberating and right. She no longer felt anything for Naruto, but remembered enough so that she could trust the person in front of her with his face, but with black hair and one blue eye turned red. "I will. Please give me the power with human sacrifice."  
"Very well. Evigishki Soul Ogre, free her soul and let her be Purified." The gigantic monster, rather than swiping at Sakura, grabbed her, raised her to it's face, swallowed her whole, then laid down on the ground.

**Xemman wins!**

When the duel holograms disappeared, Sakura was lying on the ground, eyes closed. A few seconds later she stood up, hair turned white and her eyes a pale blue. "I am Xarasuk." She then replaced the synchros she used in her grave into her extra deck. With barely a thought, she threw them up into the branches of a tree. "I forswear the tainted cards. I embrace true peace. I am of the Society of Light, and have been Purified."

* * *

"I now control the soul of the hangman," Sartorius spoke. "Chazz is now my puppet. But this is only a consolation; the real duelist I want eludes me."

A gust of wind blew from an opening door, knocking a card off the table. "I too have brought another to the Light, and she has been Purified as well. She is now one with me, and me with her. We have found true peace among each other."

But Sartorius was more interested in the card that fell. They were heavy cards; such a small breeze couldn't knock them over, unless it was by fate. '_The Wheel of Fate is upside-down. Perhaps his fate has changed to my advantage._

Meanwhile, the force from earlier was still trying to wrest control of Sartorius from the Light of Destruction, and failing. _'If I cannot control him completely, then I will not be able to control his followers as well. This could cause a small hitch in my plans...'  
_

* * *

The next morning, most of the Jaden Club had reconvened at the Slifer Red dorms to talk about where they looked for Jaden. After half an hour, two members hadn't shown up. Right when Syrus was about to cry 'worst case scenario', two people walked in the door. Syrus immediately started crying, and he and naruto gave the two big hugs. "Chazz! Sakura! I thought you guys were lost too! Or that you three had abandoned me together!"

"Get off me Syrus! I'm here, and I've never been better."

"Of course I am okay. But I am not Sakura."

Syrus realized something was wrong. Sakura wasn't showing any emotion, and Chazz didn't insult him at all. Opening his eyes, he saw a change in wardrobe. Chazz's black with grey turned into toothpaste-clean white with light blue. Sakura, however, was wearing a somewhat small white dress with spotless sandals. Looking closely, one could see that the individual parts to her clothing were each made from one whole, leaving no seams, zippers, laces, straps, or buttons. Her hair and eyes were also changed color. Everyone else saw these as well. "What's with the uniforms?" Hassleberry asked.

"What's with the clothing?" Chazz asked, condescendingly. "It's much more than just simple clothing. I have joined the Society of Light! It holds all the knowledge and answers I need."

"I am Xarasuk. I too have seen the Light." Sakura spoke, "But I have also been Purified. I now understand true peace, and have been released of my heart and all of my emotional ties."

Everyone could only look on in shock as Chazz gave an obnoxious laugh and Sakura just stood there. Her voice, her tone, her eyes, her face, even her posture were all emotionless. "Sakura, what happened to you?" Naruto asked softly.

* * *

**That's Game!**

**Ladies and gentleman, my first big cliffy! With a cliffy and such a tragic ending, I've become so evil... Don't flame me and my Yu-Gi-Oh! cards for doing this, wait quite a few chapters first and see the broad picture.**

**If you know who Xemman or the mystery entity is, or even where I'm getting my source material, DON'T REVIEW SPOIL IT FOR THOSE WHO DON'T! If they didn't figure it out when the title said 'Red Moon' or this chapter, they don't deserve to have the whole plot spoiled for them. In fact, spoilers shouldn't occur anyway!**

* * *

**Important Review Responses:**

**airNaruto45: I used 5 Machine-type Roid monsters. That's a different formula.**

**Tonyrocks345: That's a different Heraldic XYZ. One needs 3 level 4s, the other 2 level 4 'Heraldics'. I summoned Emblem/Crest, not Genom-Heritage.**

* * *

**Peace out!**

**AnonymousGX**


	8. Duel 8: Naruto vs Xairozu

**Warning: There is one ruling in this duel I'm not sure about. Call it my '1 card cop out' should I get it wrong.**

* * *

Ever since Chazz and Sakura got the bleach treatment, students from around campus were slowly falling prey to what Naruto dubbed 'The White Blight'. It wasn't often, but one at a time, people were donning white clothing and spouting "the Society of Light" almost every other casual sentence. People could tell that a person would change and join them after you dueled a member and lose. At first, some thought you could just defeat them to snap them out. But, as Naruto learned against Xarasuk, it doesn't quite work the other way around. And considering how close Naruto was to losing, he didn't want to try again without knowing for sure how to make her come back to her senses. But even though there was unity among them, outsiders could tell there were two factions within the Society. The ones who still had most of their previous emotions and only spoke of the Society were nicknamed 'the Whitecloaks'. Meanwhile, the ones who occasionally spoke of 'the Light and the Purity' and wore 1 piece articles of clothing were called 'the Purists'. Everyone who dueled a Whitecloak or a Purist and lost joined them, but those that dueled the Purists also felt real damage until they accepted the change, even if it occurred willingly in the middle of a duel. Those that won didn't change, and nobody has yet tied a duel against them.

The change seemed to start in Obilisk Blue, slowly turning the students all into either Whitecloaks or Purists. While Whitecloaks were the clear majority, the stronger duelists usually were usually approached by, and defeated by, the Purists first. They all got along well enough, but some of the Whitecloaks resented or envied the difference between them and the Purists. One such Whitecloak, Chazz, challenged Xarasuk twice, hoping to become one of the best. But after one win and one loss, and completely open to the change he expected to feel, he was not affected at all.

While most of the Society of Light, including Xarasuk, remained together in the Obelisk Blue dormitories, Chazz stayed in his extension of luxury. The only thing that spoiled said luxury was the level of both food and cooking for Slifer meals. Right when he decided to go on food strike, a delicious smell hit everyone's noses. Daniel was the first one out the door, running to the enticing smell of spicy curry.

Everyone who followed were surprised at the banquet found outside. There was a humongous pot of thick curry, just begging to be eaten. The chef, a Ra Yellow adult called Don Simon, wore a pink apron, an orange cape Naruto fanned over, and a paper bag with a fire symbol. "Damas y cabelleros, step up for de meal of a lifetime. Come an' eat de spicy sensación of Ra Jellow! 'Ave the wonder of my super spicy Curry of Life!"

Up close, the smell of spice was making Daniel's eyes gleam. "¡Gracias, mi amigo! ¡El olor y el picante me encantan tantos!" He then saw the rest of the Red Dorm look at him like he was crazy. "Oh. Sorry! He was speaking with an interesting Spanish accent. So I told him 'Thanks my friend! The smell and the spice enchant me so!' in Spanish."

The announcement that made Daniel go starry-eyed, however, made Naruto gag, remembering a mission he went on with Lee's team. "Uh... Do you have another pot hidden somewhere, with something less spicy? Or even better, not spicy at all?"

"Lo siento, señor," Don Simon told him, "but dis is all I 'ave."

"But I do," a newcomer appeared. Everyone was surprised to see a Purist appear. He was wearing a white apron as well, and was pushing a large multi-level cart of snacks and treats. "I am Xairozu. I help cook for the Society of Light, and have been Purified. If you want to join in this feast," he gestured to the large cart next to him, "then you must duel me. Win or lose, you may eat."

"Jou dink jou can steal my custumers away with dose fattening sweets?" Simon asked him, appalled. He then pointed out the visiting Yellow Students. "If any of jou persons duel and defeat me, all may eat of my Curry! But, should jou lose, jou must regress to Ra Jellow wid me!"

"Hold on guys," Alexis spoke up. "We're not here for food, but for Jaden and this dorm. We leave, the whole thing will get torn down."

"Not necessarily," Daniel spoke up, still drooling next to the pot. "If the Ra Yellows leave, there's still myself, yourself, and Chazz here to hold down the fort."

"That's right," Chazz agreed. "Hassleberry, duel him already! I want to eat some grub that isn't still alive!"

"All right then!" Hassleberry spoke up from next to Daniel, gazing longingly at the pot. "I'll take your challenge Don Simon!"

"Even with this duel going on," Xairozu spoke, "I am still willing to duel others for this feast."

"No way we're going to duel you pain inflicting Purists and risk becoming brainwashed, believe it!" Naruto yelled.

"Hello Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki. Xarasuk told me about you." the White Chef turned the cart around. Along all the other side was covered with hot steamy cups of...

"Is that... Pork Ramen?" Naruto drooled. "You've got yourself a duel!"

**Duel!**

**Naruto: ********LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
************Xairozu: ************LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0************  
**

Daniel and the others just shook their heads at how quickly Naruto changed his mind and took the bait. They even heard a song about Ramen playing in the background. Wait, a Ramen song in the background? Daniel quickly whipped his phone out of his pocket, walked a small distance away so as not to interrupt the duel, and answered it. "Hey there Boss lady! ... Of course I have to call you that and have that ringtone as a ringback tone. You and Naruto have to lay off the Ramen a little! That, and it's the only way I can tease you without getting punched for it is over the phone!" Daniel quickly moved the phone away from his ear for a few seconds. "... Yes, I know Ramen's the food created by and ordained of the gods... You'll be pleased to hear that I passed out two of the new decks already. ... Yeah, we're, eh, all doing well here at the, eh school. In fact, Naruto's dueling right now! ... Well, it's the first turn, he's set a monster and a card, and the opponent has yet to make his turn, why? SOMEBODY STOLE A PROTOTYPE DECK?! ... What kind of duelist would take a main deck without stealing the extra deck?"

* * *

Xairozu began his turn. "I draw. I play Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards. I summon Madolche Magileine in attack mode. Her effect lets me add another Madolche to my hand. I choose Madolche Butlerusk."

"Never mind. Let me guess, it's the Madolche deck. ... Because Naruto's opponent just played Magileine and searched for Butlerusk. Yeah, I'll make sure to take the deck back when the duel's done. Actually, do you mind sending me the Extra Deck for the Madolche's? Thanks, by!" When Daniel returned to the duel field, the ones watching Naruto's duel were talking hungrily about Madaleine Sponge Cakes and Rusk Biscuits, both of which were on the dessert trays.

Xairozu, however, wasn't satisfied with just Magileine's 1400 attack points. "I play the continuous spell card Samsara. I now activate Hamburger Recipe to return my Madolche Magileine and Butlerusk to the deck to summon Hungry Burger." (2000)

"Cakes, biscuits, now burgers?" Chazz bemoaned, glancing at the cart. Sure enough, there were a few burgers, still warming on a grille. "Is this what they serve in the Society of Light every day?"

Xairozu ignored the Whitecloak. "Thanks to Samsara's effect, my ritual tributes are shuffled into the deck instead of sent to the grave. Battle phase, attack his monster."

Naruto's monster was a little bug with a green cape. It was quickly eaten by the food. "Did that burger just grow fangs?" Syrus asked. "I'm not sure if I want his food anymore..." A couple Slifers who were also watching concurred.

"I activate Danipon's effect!" Naruto announced. "He adds Inzektor Earwig to my hand."

Xairozu was unamused at this move. "I set 2 cards, end turn."

**Naruto: ********LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 0/0  
************Xairozu: ************LP 4,000, H 1, S/T 'Samsara'/2, F 0, M 'Hungry Burger'/0**

Naruto began his turn confidently. "My move! I summon Inzektor Earwig." (1000) "I activate his effect, equipping himself with Inzektor Giga-Mantis. While he's equipped to a monster, Giga-Manti's effect changes Earwigs original attack to 2400!" (1000 to 2400) "Earwig, teach that burger the way the Food Chain's supposed to go!"

When Hungry Burger was destroyed, Xairozu was ready. "I use my trap, Desperate Tag. I take no damage from this battle, and can summon a Warrior from my hand. Madolche Chouxvalier is summoned in attack mode." (1700)

"Nice move. I'll end by turn by setting a card."

* * *

Xairozu remained in a Purified state of mind. "I activate Madolche Chateau. This field spell improves Madolche monster's attack points by 500." (1700 + 500 = 2200) "End turn."

* * *

**Naruto: ********LP 4,000, H 3, S/T 'Inzektor Giga-Mantis (IE)'/2, F 0, M 'Inzektor Earwig (IG-M)'/0  
************Xairozu: ************LP 4,000, H 0, S/T 'Samsara' 'Desperate Tag'/1, F 'Madolche Chateau', M 'Madolche Chouxvalier'/0**

"Look at all those sweets that make up the palace! Are we on Big Rock Candy mountain?" Syrus asked.

"This looks like the house Hansel and Gretle visited," Daniel commented.

"Good analogy Daniel," Basion concurred. "Should Naruto lose, the master of the castle will take him."

Naruto wasn't scared of a weak monster. "I summon Inzector Hopper." (1700). "Earwig, take out his Chouxvalier!"

"Not so fast," Xairozu pronounced. "I actiavate Madolche Waltz. Each time my Madolche battles, you take 300 damage."

Madolche Chouxvalier got off his horse and actually started to dance with Earwig. "Wha? Earwig! Cut it out already and attack him!" Their flowing dance came towards Naruto, and Chouxvalier 'accidentally' stepped on Naruto's foot. Since it was a Purification duel, Naruto actually felt it. "Ow ow ow ow ow! Watch were you're stepping!"  
Naruto has lost 300 life points

Xairozu wasn't finished for this battle. "I activate Desperate Tag, and chain Couxvalier. First, thanks to the field spell, he returns to my hand, then Desperate Tag prevents me from taking damage and summons him back to the field." (1700 + 500 = 2200)

Naruto was in trouble with this move and knew it. "Darn it!" '_I have to move my Hopper to defense mode. But how? Wait! These cards can let my avoid that combo altogether!' _"I activate Insect Imitation. I tribute Hopper to summon Giga-Cricket, in defense mode!" (1300). "Now, I equip Earwig with Hopper using Earwig's effect." (Lvl 4 + 4 = 8) "Your move buddy!"

* * *

"Wait a minute," Syrus asked. "Why did he bring out a monster with less defense, then equip Hopper to Earwig if Hopper doesn't give attack points?"

"Because of what Hopper can give," Daniel revealed. "If Naruto unequips Hopper from Earwig, Earwig can attack directly."

"Ingenious move," Bastion praised. "If that combo works, then Desperate Tag and Madolche Waltz can't stop Naruto from inflicting battle damage. Clever for a boy with just as good class participation as Jaden."

Xairozu's turn was up. "I summon Madolche Chirpolate." (800 + 500 = 1300). "I switch Chouxvalier to defense mode." (1300 + 500 = 1800)

"Oh, what I would give for a nice drink of hot chocolate!" Chazz bemoaned.

"Calm down Chazz. But why did he switch Chouxvalier to defense mode?" Alexis pondered.

"If you guys listen to duels, rather than interrupt them, you would not have missed the reason," Daniel revealed. When the Jaden Club turned back to the duel, Earwig was in defense mode with no card effect. (1000) "Now Earwig can't equip himself with Inzektors and can't attack, even by Hopper's effect. If Naruto wants to summon an Inzektor next turn, he'd have to give up his battle phase.

"But why's that?" Syrus asked Daniel.

"Because Sy, Hopper only lets the direct attacker monster battle during the turn you use his effect. So if Naruto wanted to equip him to another Inzektor and attack, it'd have to be the turn after Naruto's next. But if Naruto can remove Chirpolate from the field, then Earwig can regain everything and use Hopper to attack directly."

Xairozu wasn't content to let that happen. "Chirpolate, destroy his Earwig."

"Not so fast!" Naruto exclaimed. "Mirror Force, activate!"

Xairozu, while caught off guard, was not surprised. "Chirpolate returns to my hand via his own effect and the field spell. End turn."

* * *

******Naruto: ********LP 3,700, H 2, S/T 'Inzektor Giga-Mantis (IE)' 'Inzektor Hopper (IE)'/1, F 0, M 'Inzektor Earwig (IG-M)' 'Inzektor Giga-Cricket'/0  
************Xairozu: ************LP 4,000, H 1, S/T 'Samsara' 'Desperate Tag' 'Madolche Waltz'/0, F 'Madolche Chateau', M 'Madolche Chouxvalier' 'Madolche Chirpolate'/0**

Naruto was now in a pickle. "I activate Pot of Greed! I can now draw two more cards!" _'Oh dear of dear oh dear! Wait, that can work!_ "I set one card and play Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber. It increases Hornet's defense by 800." (1000 + 800 = 1800) "I end my turn."

* * *

Xairozu took the stage. "I summon Chiropolate, and switch Chouxvalier to atk mode." (800 + 500 = 1300) (1700 + 500 = 2200). "Since a Madolche switched battle positions, Chiropolate can use his effect. The target is Inzektor Giga-Cricket. He can not attack or use his effects. Chiropolate, attack his Giga-Cricket!" Even if nothing would result in terms of destruction, the little bird waltzed over Naruto's shoes. "Now, Chouxvalier attacks Giga-Cricket." After another toe-jamming experience, Naruto's monster was destroyed. "I end my turn."

* * *

******Naruto: ********LP 3,100, H 2, S/T 'Inzektor Giga-Mantis (IE)' 'Inzektor Sword - Zektkaliber (IE)' 'Inzektor Hopper (IE)'/2, F 0, M 'Inzektor Earwig (IG-M)'/0  
************Xairozu: ************LP 4,000, H 1, S/T 'Samsara' 'Desperate Tag' 'Madolche Waltz'/0, F 'Madolche Chateau', M 'Madolche Chouxvalier' 'Madolche Chirpolate'/0**

Naruto could be in trouble and knew it. '_He didn't destroy Earwig! I may be in trouble this turn. But if I summon this monster early, then I may lose in the long run'_. "I end my turn."

* * *

"No move for this turn?" Xairozu asked. "Do you wish to be Purified? If you do, you'll be able to be with Sakura again."

The mention of Sakura caught Naruto off guard. If he did give up his soul, would it join Sakura's? Could they work together to free each other from the inside? Daniel saw Naruto hesitate, and feared Naruto was going to surrender. "No way buddy! I'm going to bring Sakura back if it's the last thing I do!"

"Then give up," Xairozu told Naruto. "It is impossible to taint what has been Purified. Xarasuk has been reborn, and her old life is dead. You'll never see her again."

To the surprise of everyone there, Naruto's eyes turned red and his whisker marks grew a little larger and more ragged. "I'm going to beat you down! Then I'm going to find your boss and convince him to release Sakura to me! If he doesn't, he's going to wish I had merely beaten him senseless after an intense duel that I won!"

Daniel would have called Naruto out on not only his chakra's, but what appeared to be Kyuubi's, return as well. But Daniel noticed more than just that. A purple aura appeared around Naruto. _'Wait, isn't cha-kara supposed to be blue and Kyuubi red? What's that purple thing?'_ When he looked at Xairozu, a similar aura imposed itself over him. When he drew his card, Daniel noticed that a multi-colored aura appeared around it. _'What's going on?'_

Xairozu continued his turn. "I normal summon Cruffssant." (1500 + 500 = 2000). Sure enough, viewers commented on the delicious croissant on his collar. "His effect returns my field spell to my hand to gain 1 level and 300 attack. I now replay my field spell Madolche Chateau." (2000 + 300 = 2300).

"This is a serious situation," Basion realized. "If two attacks get through, Naruto will lose and join the Purists."

"Chouxvalier, destroy his Earwig."

"I activate my spell card!" Naruto announced. "Emergency Provisions! I can send spells and traps on my side of the field to the graveyard, and gain 1000 life points for each. I'll send Giga-Mantis, Hopper, and Zektkaliber. Now the effects of both Giga-Mantis and Zektkaliber activate. Zektkaliber returns Giga-Mantis to my hand, while Giga-Manis summons Hopper back to the field in defense mode." (1400)

"Good show!" Bastion cheered.

"Nice way to block an attack!" Daniel congratulated Naruto.

Because Naruto summoned a monster, a replay occurred. "Chouxvalier, destroy his Hopper." After having his horse trample Naruto's poor toes, he swung his lance and destroyed the green hero. Xairozu didn't miss that Naruto's Earwig now had 1000 defense. "Chiropolate, defeat his Earwig." Another waltz later, and another monster down. "Cruffssant, attack directly." To Naruto's embarrassment, he had to waltz with a creature that had two left feet before he was bit. "I set one card and end my turn."

* * *

******Naruto: ********LP 2,900, H 4, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 0/0  
************Xairozu: ************LP 4,000, H 0, S/T 'Samsara' 'Desperate Tag' 'Madolche Waltz'/1, F 'Madolche Chateau', M 'Madolche Chouxvalier' 'Madolche Chirpolate' 'Madolche Cruffssant'/0**

Daniel saw that the set card, the real one but not the holographic, was the one with the rainbow aura, but wondered what it stood for.

Naruto smirked at Xairozu. "I hope you have a good card set! When I have exactly 3 Dark Monsters in my grave, I special summon Dark Armed Dragon!" (2800) '_OK, I have to get rid of his cards, but which ones?' _"I use Dark Armed Dragon's effect to destroy your set card!" As it was destroyed, Daniel didn't see any changes in the aura as it was sent to the grave. "Alright! I now banish two more cards to destroy your Waltz trap and your field spell!" Two more destructions, and the field was ripe for the picking. (2300 - 500 = 1800) (2200 - 500 = 1700) ( 1300 - 500 = 800) "I summon Inzektor Dragonfly." (1000) "I'll use Giga-Mantis' effect to equip himself to Dragonfly, then equip Heart of Clear Water, which destroys itself." (1000 to 2400) "Now, since an equip spell as removed from Dragonfly, I can summon another Inzektor from my deck. I choose Inzektor Centipede!" (1600) "Time to end this duel! Dark Armed Dragon, attack his Cruffssant!"

However, another monster got in the way. "By his own effect, Madolche Chouxvalier is the only one you can attack." Xairozu said as his monster was destroyed. However, due to Kyuubi's chakra, he took real damage as well.

"Really? Then I guess Dragonfly will destroy Cruffy!" This time, the attack actually made Xairozu grunt. Daniel noticed that some of the colors from the destroyed trap leave the grave and try to touch Xairozu. However, the white aura was resisting, pushing, doing it's best to keep the color out. "Now Centipede, take out that Chirpolate!" As the damage racked up, Daniel saw more and more color tried to bond with him. But now, some red aura was creeping out of the white aura, and was pushing the other colors back into the grave.

"Nice effort. But I still have 1500 life points."

"Not for long!" Naruto declared. "I play my last trap, Return from the Different Dimension! By paying half my life points, which comes up to... to..." Naruto looked at his duel disk, "1450 points, I can summon as many banished monsters as I can! I choose Inzektors Hopper and Earwig. Hey Xairozu! Tell your leader that I'm coming for him, and he'd better return Sakura to me! Hopper, wipe out his life points!"

With that last attack, the red aura disappeared, and the colored auras all escaped the grave and entered Xairozu. While most of him was covered in white, there were sections of colors that mixed with the white. However, the aura disappeared as the duel ended.

**Naruto wins!**

"I... I... have lost? How could I lose! I was supposed to turn Naruto, and I failed!"

"Hey Xairozu. Aren't you being a little... emotional?" Naruto asked, his eyes going back to blue.

"I am no longer Pure. I am Raizou Mototani once more. But I still see the Light! The glorious Society of Light!"

"Wait... wha?" Naruto was stumped.

"I'll explain to you later, in your dorm," Daniel told the blonde. "Basically, there's a way to save Sakura." This made Naruto both excited and curious. "But didn't you win some Ramen?" Remembering why he dueled in the first place, Naruto grabbed all the Ramen cups he could and ran to his room. Daniel turned to Raizou. "I'll be taking back that stolen deck, thank you!"

Daniel went over the cards in the Madolche deck. Surprisingly, that 'Mischief of the Yokai' card was missing. Only proper Madolche Deck cards remained. He then looked over at the other duel. Hassleberry had beat and unmasked... oh what's his name... the guy in charge of the Yellow Dorm? They agreed to visit for meals, sending the poor man to tears. "Hey sir, good use of those Spice cards. Want to try something sweet?" Daniel handed the shocked professor the entirety of the Madolche deck. "This here's incomplete. I'll give you the Extra deck when it arrives via mail."

"Dank jou! ¡Gracias! 'Here! Have some of my curry," the grateful professor told Daniel, offering him a plateful of rice swamped in red curry. It was so spicy, the grass the adult was kneeling around died.

"¡Muchos Gracias! ¡Amo lo picante!" Daniel thanked him back, devouring the plate's contents as fast as Naruto can finish off a big bowl of Ramen. "Mind if I have more?"

"O' course no! Dig in!"

"Don't mind if I do!" Daniel grinned, looking at the large pot of curry. '_Wait, that white with hidden red aura! I've seen it before!'_ "Perdoname. I have to make a call." He moved away from the group, pulled out his phone, and returned the call got just before the duel. "It's me. ... Yes, I got back the deck. Distributed it too. But that's not why I called. ... I think _he_ is here, on this island! ... I think the position of Slifer Red Dorm Head Teacher is vacant. ... See you soon." Hanging up, Daniel returned to the curry, but wasn't as excited about the heavenly spice.

* * *

**Chapter 8's duel is over! The plot is unfolding! Am I doing well? Who's excited for our mystery guest? (If you know who, keep it a mystery from everyone else! No Review Spoilers, but PM spoilers may be okay...)**

**Seriously, who replaces Banner as head Slifer Professor?**

**I have a poll up about other possible X-Over ideas I can do. If you WANT me to do another, go over to my profile and fill it out.**

**Important Review Response:**

**D.J. Scales. I don't know how much longer I have until a 2 year hiatus. It may be earlier, may be later. I may spend time before the hiatus with family and not be able to get on as much/at all while with them. But until then, and after the 2 year break, I WILL return and I WILL finish these two stories at least!**

* * *

**That's Game!**

**AnonymousGX**


	9. Duel 9: Syrus VS Hassleberry

**I just realized I made quite a few jokes from a certain video game in chapter 4, but NOBODY got them! I then realized I stuffed this chapter full of jokes from the same game! Let's try again, see if anybody can pick up on it this time...**

**I've got one 'cop-out' effect, as well as an unused "Anime effect". Please ignore it, I admitted it beforehand and afterwards. The card normally only deals with destruction by battle, but for the sake of duel length, I changed it to include effect destruction.**

* * *

"Naruto, can't you clean up a little? You know those ramen packets aren't the real deal, but cheap copies," Daniel pointed out the packets all over the floor.

"I don't care! If it tastes good, I'm going to eat it! I'm a duelist and an Uzumaki! That's how we do things!"

"More like how a scavenger does things. Are you a buzzard?" Daniel teased.

"No I'm not!"

"Then why do you eat ramen from off the ground?"

"Floor ramen gives you health!" Naruto shouted.

"Okay okay, calm down a little. Don't you remember what I'm here to talk about?"

"Oh yeah! So how do we save Sakura?" Naruto asked Daniel, hopefully.

"When I watched you and Xairozu duel, you had a purple aura around you."

"Orah?" Naruto was confused.

"No, aura. Seriously, you guys used to say I had a hard time with cha-kra. Aura's like a life force, and it looked almost like fog or smoke."

This cleared things up for the blonde. "Wait. Why didn't I see this fog thingy?"

"I don't know," Daniel admitted. "I think I was the only one there who can see it. Back to saving Sakura, I saw a white aura surround Xairozu after your aura appeared. Then, Xairozu drew a card. The card had an aura, but it was multicolored."

"Was it a monster card?" Naruto asked. "Those Duel Spirit thingies may give off an aura."

"No, it was that trap. I think its name is Mischief of the Yokai. I glimpsed it when it was destroyed by Dark Armed Dragon, but it wasn't a card included in the Madolche decklist, nor was it in the deck when I took it back from him. But the aura around that card attached itself to Xairozu with each point of damage he took. Real damage from your aura entering your cards, that is. It wasn't until you took out his life points, and the last of the aura merged with the white aura, that he regained his emotions."

"..." Naruto was lost.

"That color aura must have been Raizou's personality." Naruto somewhat got it then. "So here's what we have to do. If I see an aura card, I'll tell you. You then use any chakra you saved up to destroy that card. I don't know if you have to destroy it, but it may release anything sealing the colored aura away. Then, you attack a Purist and weaken his white aura. Once his life points hit 0, he'll be his old self again."

"OK!" Naruto didn't get the explanation, but the process made sense. "So lets get our Sakura back!"

"Not so fast," Daniel reined Naruto back. "Even if we can restore Sakura, she'll still be a member of the Society. We have to figure out how to restore Whitecloaks now. Besides, do you still have enough chakra to do it?"

Naruto was torn. He and Daniel had been dueling non-stop to raise his chakra levels. Daniel would switch decks on him all the time, making sure that Naruto couldn't learn a single counter-strategy to easily defeat a deck and force him to duel hard. Daniel would push Naruto's life points as low as he could, then let the struggle to win restore some of Naruto's chakra. But while they had gotten far, Naruto had wasted a lot restoring Raizou. Naruto also had to store extra chakra for when he found _him_. "I don't think so."

"Then back to the grinding board with you!" Daniel said, turning on his duel disk. "By the way, during your duel with Xaizoru, did you know? During your fourth turn, the seventh turn overall, after Chirpolate was destroyed by Mirror Force, Earwig regained his ability to attack directly using Hopper."

"... AW MAAAAAN!"

* * *

Breakfast the next day was Fried Shrimp, and Syrus and Hassleberry were arguing about the plate set out for Jaden. _'Why set out food for a person who isn't there?'_ Daniel wondered. Soon, the duo were arguing over what to do with the food, which escalated into the usual 'I'm Jaden's true friend!'

"Syrus, Hassleberry!" Naruto tried to cut in. "Why can't we all be Jaden's friends?"

"Because every general needs just one wingman," Hassleberry answered. "and I am that man."

"Try again!" Syrus countered. "I've been with him for far longer than you!"

"Cyrus, cool your engines. Hassleberry, hold your fire," Daniel cut in. "If you guys want to settle, this, why not do it the traditional way?"

"Fine with me!" Hassleberry told him.

"I agree. Duel, outside, now!" Syrus pushed Hassleberry out the door.

"... I meant talk about it, make up, be friends, and agree to share Jaden..." Daniel muttered. "Well, it'd be fun to see which deck I gave them is better." After finishing the last of their plates, Daniel, Naruto and Alexis went out to watch them.

**Duel!**

******Syrus: ********LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
Hassleberry:********LP 4,000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
**

"I've been Jaden's true friend the longest," Syrus spoke up, "so I'll go first! I set a monster and two cards. Try to get to me, you big faker!"

* * *

"Indeed it will!" Hassleberry responded. "Draw! I play the spell Fossil Dig. This lets me recruit a level 6 or below Dino from my deck. I choose Jurrac Herra. I summon Jurrac Guaiba." (1700). I remember this card. I used in my duel against Daniel. But I would have never gotten these cards if it wasn't for Jaden. It was just me, him, and my old troops there that day before Daniel showed up. Jaden taught me to change, evolve my cards. With his saying and Daniel's help, I have become the wingman Jaden deserves! You, pipsqueak, don't deserve to be in his platoon, and I'll prove it.

"Guaiba! Attack his monster!" The defense position robo rabbit was easily reduced to rubble. "When Guaiba destroys a monster, I can summon another, come out, Jurrac Dino!" (1700) "However, he can't attack this turn. So I'll set a card, your move rookie."

* * *

******Syrus: ********LP 4,000, H 3, S/T 0/2, F 0, M 0/0  
Hassleberry:********LP 4,000, H 4, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Jurrac Dino' 'Jurrac Guaiba'/0**

"I know about your new deck, as well as your old one!" Syrus revealed. "Myself and Naruto were at that duel of between you and Jaden too!"

"Really?" Hassleberry pondered. "I guess your presences weren't logged. Either way, I've out maneuvered you!"

"But if you think that lesson was good," Syrus taunted, drawing his card, "I have a saying too. The duel's not over til the last card is played!"

"Who taught you that silly thing?" Hassleberry joked.

"If you really were Jaden's best friend, you'd know he was the one who taught me that!"

"Ouch! Syrus got you there!" Naruto shouted.

"You got burned buddy," Daniel told the chagrined Hassleberry.

"Well, upon further inspection, that slogan is of the highest rank!"

"You just said that because I revealed who said it to me! You're nothing but a fake friend, and I'm going to prove it! I normal summon Wind-Up Rat. His effect summons back Wind-Up Rabbit from the grave."

"Sam Hill! You wanted both those monsters for an XYZ?"

"You bet! I overlay the two for Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity!" (1500).

"I see a tactical error there pipsqueak. Your monster has less attack than both of mine!"

"Not for long. I equip him with Gravity Blaster! This card, once per turn, gives Zenmaity 400 extra attack!" (1500 + 400 = 1900). "This attack boost stays even if the equip spell is destroyed! Now for Zenmaity's effect! He can detatch an overlay unit to summon my second Rat. You remember his effect, don't you sarge? He can revive the first, which I had detatched. I overlay these two rats and summon Wind-Up Zenmaines in attack position!" (1500)

_'That's the card Daniel said would turn around Syrus' duel with Misty!' _Hassleberry realized. _'But how? What's his overlay effect?'_

"Zenmaines, attack his Dino!" The robot tried to pinch Dino to submission, but the stronger monster just bit back, dealing Syrus 200 points of damage. "I detatch an overlay unit. Now Zenmaines can survive this battle. Zenmaity, take out his Guaiba!"

"Not so fast there Sy! During the battle phase, I can play the trap Urgent Tuning! You see, I can call out a Synchro to the field by a proper Synchro Summon."

"A Synchro Summon outside of the Main Phase?" Syrus was shocked.

"That's right there private. I sacrifice my Dino and Guaiba to Synchro Summon Jurrac Giganoto! Thanks to his effect, all my Jurracs gain 200 attack for each Jurrac in my grave. And I count two!" (2100 + 200*2 = 2500) "Go ahead. Try to destroy him in battle dweeb!"

Syrus was shocked that Hassleberry would go so low. "Dweeb?!"

"Well, that's one point for Hassleberry," Daniel noted.

"Well... uh... every dweeb has his day!"

Daniel facepalmed. "You never admit your foe is right about that kind of thing! Make that two points for Hassleberry..."

"I end my turn. Now, Zenmaines' other effect activates! Once per turn, during the end phase of a turn he detatches an overlay unit to live and is still on the field, he must destroy a card on the field. And I choose Giganoto!"

"Sam Hill!" Hassleberry exclaimed as his barracks became bare.

"Your move, you fake friend!"

* * *

Hassleberry was in trouble and knew it. "I set a monster and card. End turn."

"That was a smart move Syrus made," Alexis praised. She had left with Daniel to observe the duel.

"Indeed it was," Bastion announced his arrival. He had been having lunch with that forgettable Yellow Head Teacher, and just got back.

"I agree," Daniel told them. "Most people would think to use Zenmaines higher defense points to protect from damage. But that strategy relies on your opponent trying to destroy it. Syrus took the fight to Hassleberry."

* * *

******Syrus: ********LP 3,800, H 1, S/T 'Gravity Blaster (Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity)/2, F 0, M 'Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity (1OV, Gravity Blasterx1)' 'Wind-Up Zenmaines (1OV)'/0  
Hassleberry:********LP 4,000, H 3, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/1**

Syrus began his turn confidently. "I draw! Gravity Blaster, give Zenmaity more attack!" (1500 + 400x2 = 2300) "I activate Zenmaity's effect! He detatches to summon my third rat!"

"Not this tactic again!" Hassleberry moaned.

"Not quite. First, I'll use this rat to summon back another! I'll then use his effect to summon back Wind-Up Rabbit!" (1400) "I'll overlay the rats for my second Zenmaines." (1500)

"Not another one of that platoon!" Hassleberry knew he was in trouble now.

"You've got that right!" Syrus proclaimed. "Wind-Up Rabbit, attack!"

The set monster was easily destroyed. "I activate Herra's effect. When a defense position Jurrac is destroyed, it summons itself to the field!" (2300)

"Good move," Alexis commented. "That monster has the same amount of attack as Zenmaity. Syrus can't deal any more damage to Hassleberry this turn."

Syrus wasn't letting that stop him. "Now for my next attack!"

"Is he planning on sacrificing Zenmaity?" Alexis wondered.

"Zenmaines, attack Herra!"

"Going for an effect destruction partner?" Hassleberry asked.

"Not at all! I activate Overwind to double its attack!" (3000) Zenmaines doubled its speed and made quick work of the Herra. "However, he returns to the extra deck during my end phase. Zenmaines, attack directly!"**  
**

"Not so fast! Trap activate, Fossil excavation! I discard a card to summon back Jurrac Guaiba in defense mode!" (400) Said monster was quickly taken out. "Now, Herra's effect kicks in again! I summon it back, in attack mode!" (2300)

Syrus decided not to attack and lose his Zenmaity. "I activate Rabbit's effect. It banishes itself til my next standby phase! With that, I end my turn. Now, the Zenmaines with only one overlay unit returns to the extra deck, and his overlay unit goes to the grave."

* * *

"The duel situation has gotten quite clamant," Bastion noted.

"Is that good?" Naruto asked. "For who?"

"Bastion's right," Alexis spoke up, with hints of a smile, "it is importunate."

"You could also say it's unpropitious," Bastion continued.

"You guys are speaking Japanese, right?" Naruto double-checked.

Bastion and Alexis just smiled at him. Daniel, however, laughed. "They're trying to confuse you. Let me say it this way; you should find it much easier to understand." He then made the best 'tough Syrus' imitation. "Big monsters kill Sarge GRR!"

"OOOOOH! That's what they said!" Naruto realized. "Thanks!"

Hassleberry, meanwhile, got a lucky draw. "I'll discard Destroyersaurus to add to my hand and play Jurassic World!"

"This is your main field spell!" Syrus remembered.

"Got that right! When one of my Dinos is attacked, I can switch it to defense. Also, all my dinos get some extra fire power!" (2300 + 300 = 2600) I summon Jurrac Aeolo, and activate his effect! He tributes himself to summon back Jurrac Monoloph." (1500 + 300 = 1800) "Herra, take out his Carrier!" The large Dino bit hard on the ship, destroying it. "I end my turn."

* * *

******Syrus: ********LP 3,500, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Wind-Up Zenmaines (2OV)'/0  
Hassleberry:********LP 3,300, H 2, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 'Jurrac Herra' 'Jurrac Monoloph'/0**

With the advantage, Syrus began his turn. "First, Rabbit returns to the field!" He then skipped straight to the battle phase. "Zenmaines, attack Monoloph!"

"Don't rush into no-man-land when you don't know what traps are laid!" Hassleberry declared. "For example, this Mirror Force!"

"I'll detatch an Overlay Unit to survive!"

"But your Rabbit won't be so lucky!" Hassleberry pointed out as the Rabbit exploded into pixelated faces. Zenmaines' attack continued and destroyed Monoloph.**  
**

"I play the spell Zenmailfunction. This card special summons a Wind-Up from my grave, but its effects are negated. I choose Wind-Up Rat."

"That small rodent won't do well in your barracks without an effect," Hassleberry.

"But it will get its ability back! Because I use my trap, Zenmairch to return Wind-Up Rat to my hand. Now, I special summon a Wind-Up from my hand that has the same number of levels as Rat. I choose Wind-Up Rat! I now use its effect, switching it to defense and summoning back my other Rat. I'll use his effect to summon my second, and my third, and my Rabbit!"

"Four level 3 monsters!" Hassleberry was shocked. "But that means..."

"Yep! I overlay twice, come out Wind-Up Zenmaines!"

"Two of them! I had trouble during my skirmishes with one!" Hassleberry cried.

"I'm surprised you've survived this long, Hassleberry," Naruto told him.

"I'll take that as a compliment," the Sarge told him.

"Well, if you really have a hard time, I suppose I can end my turn."

* * *

Hassleberry was glad at his drawn card. "I said I _had_ problems with them. But know I know their Achilles Heel!"

"Uh... gesundheit?"

"What he means," Alexis spoke up, "is that he figured out Zenmaines' weak point.

"That's right!" Hassleberry boasted. "First off, they can only protect themselves once. Second, in order to destroy something on the field, they must remain on the field for the End Phase. I activate Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards. And I just drew the card I needed!"

"What card would that be?" Syrus asked, a little nervous.

"Another Jurrac Monoloph!" (1500 + 300 = 1800) "Now, both my Monolophs have a special effect. They can each attack all of your monsters once!"

"Wait a second..."

"That's right! Monoloph number one! Attack each and every one of his monsters!" The little Dino ran at each of the Zenmaines. Two of them removed their overlay units to survive, but one of them, which had no units, was destroyed. "Monoloph number 2, your turn!" Said monster removed the last overlay unit from each monster. "Now for the final attack. Jurrac Herra, defeat one of his Zenmaines!" With a final chomp, an XYZ went to the grave. "Now, how about I show you an XYZ of my own?"

"You have an XYZ too?!" Syrus was shocked.

"Of course! I overlay my Monolophs for Grenosaurus!" (2000 + 300 = 2300) "Now, he has a special ability. If he destroys a monster in battle, then I can detatch and deal you with 1000 damage! Now, I'll set a card and end my turn. Since only one Zenmaines survived, you can only use that effect once! So, which card are you going to destroy?"

"I choose... Jurassic World," Syrus said, at a loss of confidence. The jungle was torn down by Wind-Up Bulldozers. (2300 - 300 = 2000) (2600 - 300 = 2300)

* * *

******Syrus: ********LP 600, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Wind-Up Zenmaines'/0  
Hassleberry:********LP 3,300, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Jurrac Herra' 'Grenosaurus (2OV)'/0**

"I don't get it," Naruto spoke up. "Why did he destroy the field spell rather than a monster? Can't those inflict damage to his life points?"

"Maybe so," Bastion told him. "But that Grenosaurus only had enough attack to beat Sy's Zenmaines while the field spell was up. Syrus is hoping to find a way to stop Herra from making an opening in his life points."

"Wait, why is Grenosaurs so dangerous?"

"Didn't you hear his ability?" Daniel asked him. "When Genosaurus destroys a monster, he can inflict 1000 damage. Syrus has less than that amount left. And if Jurassic World was still in play, Grenosaurus would have more attack than Zenmaine's defense..."

"Then he can destroy Zenmaines," Naruto realized, "and use his effect!"

Syrus knew it too, and looked dejected. However, his draw seemed to cheer him up a little. "I'll play a spell, Pot of Avarice! If I have at least five monsters in my grave, I can return 5 to the deck or extra deck to draw 2 cards! I choose my Zenmaines, Zenmaity, and two Rats. Now, I draw!" His draw must have been great, based on his reaction. "I activate my trap, Zenmailstrom! I can tribute my Zenmaines to summon the Wind-Up Shark in my hand!" (1500) "Now, I can search out my deck for another Wind-Up with the same number of attack points as my Shark and summon it. I'll choose another Shark!" (1500)

"You're going for a rank 4 XYZ?" Hassleberry was shocked. He'd only seen rank 3s before now. Syrus then yawned. "Saw wha? No sleeping in the middle of a battle, pipsqueak!" Hassleberry told the boy.

"It's not his fault you wouldn't help him at night!" Daniel yelled at the boy. "He's been out every night since Jaden disappeared, looking for him! Naruto and myself would sometimes go with him to look, and try to bring him back to the dorm after a little while to sleep. But you, one of Jaden's best friends, didn't help Syrus or even go looking for him!"

_'Daniel's right!'_ Hassleberry realized. _'I may call myself a member of his army, but I never went to look for Jaden. I guess I did leave a man behind. Two, if you count Syrus...'_

"I'm not going for a rank 4. I activate both my shark effects! They become level 5 monsters! Now I'll overlay my two Sharks to bring out Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh!" (2600) "His effect destroys two set cards on either side of the field. Lucky for you, I only see one. I now play a spell Vehicroid Connection Zone. I fuse my Rescueroid and Ambulanceroid into Ambulance Rescueroid!" (2300) "Zenmaioh! Attack his Herra!" A hammer to the head knocked out the returning enemy. "Ambulance Rescueroid now attacks Grenosaurus!" Said vehicle mowed his Dino down. "I end my turn."

* * *

Hassleberry seemed about ready to lose. But he know knew that Syrus was the best pal for Jaden. Even so, he'd stick around and help as much as he could. His draw, however, gave him some hope to live. "I summon Jurrac Galim, in face up defense mode!" (0). "You're move soldier."

* * *

******Syrus: ********LP 600, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh (2OV)' 'Ambulance Rescueroid'/0  
Hassleberry:********LP 2,700, H 2, S/T 0/1, F 0, M 'Jurrac Gallim'/0**

Syrus knew what he needed in order to win; any monster with attack points. Sure enough, he got an old favorite. "I summon Steamroid!" (1800) "He attacks your Gallim!"

"You triggered his effect! Your Steamroid is destroyed! Normally, you'd have a chance to negate this, but since you don't have any cards to discard, you can't! Also, since a defense position Jurrac was destroyed, I can summon Herra in defense mode!" (1500)

"Too bad for you, Ambulance Resueroid can summon a destroyed monster back to the field once per turn. So welcome back Steamroid! I'll have him attack again!" (1800 + 500 = 2300) Herra was flattened, even without the attack point boost. (2300 - 500 = 1800). "Ambulance Rescueroid and Zenmaioh! Finish this duel!"

_'He is Jaden's true best friend...'_ Hassleberry took his punishment with dignity and honor.

**Syrus wins!**

"I... can't believe it... I won..." Syrus said sleepily. He then turned his head to the side, almost as if he heard somebody. "Jaden? Did... you see..." Syrus then fell, asleep before he hit the ground.

"Naruto, I think you should let the boy sleep," Daniel said quickly. Naruto stopped his charge at the snoring blue-haired boy and closed his mouth.

Naruto instead turned to Hassleberry. "Good duel! What was your last card? That set one?"

Hassleberry revealed said card to everyone. After gasps all around, Naruto read the effect. "I don't get it. What's everyone so worked up over?"

"If he had activated that card after Ambulance Rescueroid attacked," Bastion revealed, "then he could have summoned a Jurrac monster in defense position. If Zenmaioh destroyed it, then Hassleberry could have summoned Herra to the field. During his turn, he could have attacked Steamroid. Steamroid's effect would have lowered his own attack points, enough for Sarge to win."

"Really?" Naruto was stunned. "But what if Syrus didn't attack? What would you have drawn? Show me your next turn!" Naruto demanded.

"I would have summoned out Jurrac Giganoto with Fossil Excavation's effect," Hassleberry revealed. "Even with his effect negated, he has enough attack points to beat Syrus by attacking Steamroid."

"Wait, so you had a fool-proof way to win?" Naruto was so shocked, he jawdropped. "Why didn't you?"

"Because," Hassleberry's voice had less of a militaristic edge, "I realized that Sy deserves to be Jaden's wingman. But I'll always be there for Jaden, and you guys as well!"

* * *

"Hassleberry?! You got our snacks and lunches?" Syrus called back.

"Of course I do, as well as everything else! Why do I have to carry all this anyway? I'm a Sarge, not a Quatermaster!"

"You lost the duel, so now I'm your commander!" Syrus boasted while explaining.

"What just happened?" Naruto muttered. "There's no way a super-tired boy who missed a week of sleep would be up leading a Jaden Expedition this fast. It's almost like we had a commercial break, or a loading screen back there."

"SHHHH!" Daniel silenced him before the arguing duo could notice them. "_They_ are going to hear you! We're not supposed to talk about that!" He then turned to search for Jaden through the leaves. "Wait! What. Is. This?!"

"Did you find Jaden?" Naruto asked.

"What's with the tone of surprise? Is it him?" Syrus started worrying. "Is he sick? Does he have Poison Ivy? Is he dead?!"

"It's a HUGE HOTSPRING!" Daniel took off the duel disk and backpack, emptied his pockets, removed his shoes, and took a flying leap into the water.

"Somebody likes his down time, " Hassleberry noted.

"Of course. You saw him with that super spicy curry," Naruto reminded him. "He just likes most things that can be defined as 'hot'."

After spending a few more seconds underwater, Daniel finally resurfaced. "Ahhhhh... Nice and toasty. That's what I'm talking about!"

"Pardon me corporal, but why'd you go in with all your clothes on?" Hassleberry asked. "Is it that much of a bother to take them off?"

"Don't you do this in the army? Doing this saves on laundry! Also, a good duelist must always be prepared for anything!"

"You've made some good points there," Hassleberry agreed.

"That, and I don't want to steam my sacred buns."

"... We're done here," Syrus sweatdropped. "Time to move out!"

"No! A few more minutes, please!" Daniel pleaded. But it was in vain, for Naruto and Hassleberry pulled him out. "I LOVE YOU HOT SPRING! Wait! What's that?" Daniel asked, pointing to something near the base of a tree.

* * *

**I've got one 'cop-out' effect, as well as an unused "Anime effect". Please ignore it, I admitted it beforehand and afterwards. The card normally only deals with destruction by battle, but for the sake of duel length, I changed it to include effect destruction.**

* * *

**My next duel is going to be so big, I can only do HALF of it! That's right, I'm having a TAG DUEL! But I need help. While I'm okay with making two DuelingNetwork accounts, I'm pretty sure four is overkill, and the other two will be rarely needed.**

**I'll need one person (or account) using a Crowler Ancient Gear/Geargia deck, the other a Mecha Phantom Beast deck for Bonaparte (what? His anime deck isn't OCG or TCG yet!). I will ONLY reveal the other tag team to duel participants!**

**Here's how it works. Each deck is allowed to have two total of the following cards: Mirror Force, Swords of Revealing Light, or Pot of Greed. Furthermore, each deck may have one forbidden card, or one limited/semi-limited card over the limit, but it must be cleared with me first. Each deck will not use a Side Deck, and has 45 cards at most in the main deck. ****I'm going to be in charge of the mystery tag team, under the names AnonymousGX and AnonymousGX-2. **You (two) will challenge these users. Once we're set up, we will connect with everyone via PMs and Duel Chats. (If Person A is dueling Person B, he only needs to PM Persons C and D). Whenever you make a move, you announce it on the PM and duel chat. The player you're dueling specifically will have the right to chain first, followed by his duel partner, followed by your duel partner, and you last. Should somebody chain an effect, that person's duel opponent has the right of chain, etc. If a player decides to opt out of chaining, they MUST let EVERYONE know over PM and duel chat.

**Both tag teams have a shared 4000 LP (or 8000, if the duel goes by too fast). Both players share a 'side of the field'. You cannot borrow your partner's monsters to attack or defend. Members of a tag team cannot use each others graves instead of their own (this is treated as another side of the field), nor can they check face-down cards of their partner. For examples, your partner can't summon the Level Eater in your grave, but you can summon it by removing a level from your partner's monster. Your Card Trader can be borrowed by your partner. You can't borrow their grave for Solidarity's condition, but your partner's monsters can gain the attack boost. Cost payments, like Fairy Box, only have to be made during their controller's turn, not the partner's.**

_**My team must win this duel for my planned plot to work. Hence, we're allowed to card swap (trade a card in our hand/set on our field for one we need in our deck, as long as it goes where the traded card came from) either to prolong the duel, bring out a key card before winning/losing, or (in my case) to win. However, all card swaps must be cleared with the other three duelists.**_

**As you can see, this can be a long duel. If you want to do this, set aside at least an hour, an hour and a half to be safe. PM me with your DN username and times you can get on (in California time). I'll co-ordinate everyone.**

**If I don't get two other duelists and myself together after awhile, I'll make a scripted duel rather than a live duel with few card swaps.**

* * *

**That's Game!**

**AnonymousGX **


	10. Duel 10: Tag Duel 1

**Sorry this took so long! I'm not good with making Mecha Phantom Beast decks, and it was easier to make Sage Mode and Magic chapters over small periods of time.**

**This is my first fully scripted duel. Please tell me how well it goes!**

**I got info on my mission! This September, I'm leaving on a 12 week 'test mission' late September. If I do well enough during said test, it'll extend to a full 2 year mission. My current area is about 2 days drive from my home.**

* * *

In the Slifer Red dorm, Syrus was depressed. His big bro Jaden was still missing, and his real brother Zane was dwindling ever since his match against Aster Phoenix. "I can't believe Zane lost nine times in a row!" Syrus mourned.

"Wipe those tears soldier!" Hassleberry commanded. "That ain't no way to feel for your brother!"

"He's right," Naruto consoled him. "You're his brother. You should root for him all the way!"

"Besides," Daniel added in, "any duel now, he'll rebound and remind everyone of his might!"

"Thanks guys," Syrus said. He then folded up the magazine he was reading. "Hey, want to help me?"

"Sure pipsqueak!" Hassleberry volunteered.

"How?" Naruto asked.

"Well... I want to get rid of these. I don't want to read about him losing anymore. Can you help?"

"Sure!" Daniel said. "It'll be easy, taking them all to the trash!"

* * *

"I thought we were taking them to the trash bin, or even the dumpster..." Daniel moaned, the job finally done. He, Hassleberry, Naruto, and Syrus were waking back from the woods to their dorm.

"I didn't want to get rid of them forever," Syrus revealed. "I just wanted to preserve them until he starts winning again."

"So you put them in an open hole in the forest?" Naruto asked.

"Sure. I didn't want to bury or ruin them. Besides, nobody's going to find them."

"I doubt that..." Daniel mused.

"Naruto! Is that you?" A voice called from the dorms.

"... Mom?" Naruto almost whispered, breaking into a run. Sure enough, in front of the dorm, was Kushina and Minato. "Mom! Dad!" Naruto cried, giving them a flying tackle turned hug.

"It's been too long Naruto! I missed you!" Kushina cried.

"Moooom! It's only been a month!" Naruto wailed, now trying to get out of her crushing grip.

"And there's our star, Daniel!" Minato said, turning to Daniel, arms out for a hug.

"Thanks Minato! I didn't expect you two to be here so ear..." Daniel said while approaching him, before being knocked silly by a right hook.

"_THAT'S FOR CALLING ME BOSS LADY!" _Kushina yelled at him, fist extended and hair flowing in a nonexistent wind. "_I'm not that old yet!_"

"Now now, the reunion can come later," a new voice spoke up.

Behind Naruto's parents were Crowler and Bonaparte. "Oui Oui!" Bonaparte agreed. "You two must first do an Instructor's duel, before you can be Den Parents."

"Wait, there's a Den Mother?" Syrus asked on the way to the arena. "I thought there was a Head Professor."

"Usually yes," Daniel revealed. "The Den Mother rarely gets the job of Head Professor instead of the Den Father. She does, however, care for the girls in her dorm at the very least. Did you really think they'd let a male into female dorms?"

"Well... no," Syrus stuttered.

"The Instructor duel is about to begin," the MC announced. "This will be a tag duel. One team is Chancellor Crowler and Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte, who will duel Minato and Kushina. No player can attack their first turn. Both teams have a combined 8000 life points, and there is one side of the field. However, each player's graves, hands, decks, and extra decks are treated as individual, separate parts of the field. Let the tag duel begin!"

**Tag Duel!**

**Tag Pair 1:**  
**Crowler: LP: 8000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**  
**Minato: LP 8000, H 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0**

"If you don't mind," Crowler started off, "the Chancellor shall go first." He then surveyed his hand. "I'll set a monster and two cards. Your move."

"What do you think he's doing?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, Crowler's deck is about the powerful Ancient Gears," Hassleberry agreed. "That monster's in the barracks, and can't use his attack."

"I don't know for sure," Daniel answered, "but Minato did give him one of the new small archetypes, as well as a whole archetype for Bonaparte. Maybe this set monster is from said cards."

"And speaking of Minato, got any intel on him and his compatriot?" Hassleberry pushed for info.

"He uses a Ninja and Ninjitsu deck. It's a very interesting and semi-defined archetype with some powerful cards. Kushina, also known as the Red-Hot Habanero, uses the Battlin' Boxers. Like her, they're Fire attribute and pack a wallop," Daniel revealed, rubbing his still sore cheek.

* * *

"My turn then, draw!" Minato began. "I summon Upstart Golden Ninja and activate his effect! By discarding the trap card Skill Successor, I can special summon a Ninja from my deck. I choose Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo! Since he was special summoned, he can add a 'Ninja' monster to my hand. I choose Masked Ninja Ebisu. I'll now overlay my two monsters. XYZ summon Blade Armor Ninja!" (Atk 2200). "I activate two Continuous Spells The A. Forces. For each Warrior or Spellcaster on my side of the field, all Warriors gain 200 Attack points for each of this spell!" (2200 +400*1 = 2600) "I end my turn."

* * *

**Tag Pair 2:  
****Bonaparte: LP 8000, Hand 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
****Kushina: LP 8000, Hand 5, S/T 0/0, F 0, M 0/0  
**

"Mon tour, draw!" Bonaparte began.

"Wait a second Bonaparte!" Crowler interrupted. "I activate the Continuous Trap Ultimate Offering! With this trap, we can pay 500 life points to summon another monster, even during the battle phase."

"Tre bien!" Bonaparte thanked him. "I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Blue Impala. I'll now Synchro Summon."

"Sam Hill! Hassleberry cried out. "How's he going to do it? Impalase is the only monster on his field!"

"Blue Impala, as well as Eccentric Boy, can use monsters in your hand," Daniel revealed.

"I'll send my level three Blue Impala on the field, and the level four Mecha Phantom Beast Coltwing in my hand, to summon Mecha Phantom Beast Concoruda." (2400). "I'll now use Crowler's Ultimate Offering. I'll pay 1000 Life points to summon two Mecha Phantom Beasts Tetherwolf. Their first effect summons out two Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens, in defense mode." (0). "Their second effect increases their levels equal to the total levels of Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens." (Lvl 4 + 3 + 3 = 10). "I'll tribute one token to increase one Tetherwolf's attack by 800." (Lvl 10 - 3 = 7). "I now XYZ summon using my two level 7 Tetherwolf's. Apparaitre, Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack!" (Atk 2600). "Now, as long as Concoruda is out, my tokens can't be destroyed at all! And as long as a token's out, Dracossack, can't be destroyed at all! I activate Dracossack's effect. I don't want you to get more attack, so I'll tribute a token to destroy one of your The A. Forces." (2600-200 = 2400). "I now detatch an overlay unit from Dracossack to summon back 2 Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens, in defense mode." (0) "I set one card, and end my turn."

* * *

"This is bad," Syrus worried.

"No kiddin', two invincible monsters!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"But Concoruda's wide open!" Naruto figured out. "Mom will find a way to destroy it, believe it!"

"My turn, draw!" Kushina cried. Looking over her hand, she smirked. "I activate Painful Choice. I choose five monsters. Four will go to the grave, and one to my hand. Choose as you will, Bonaparte."

Bonaparte carefully looked over the cards she was offering. There was one Battlin' Boxer Switchitter, two Battlin' Boxer Glassjaw, and two Battlin' Boxer Counterpunch. Seeing their effects, he made his choice. "I choose Glassjaw!"

"Then I get the effect of the one sent to my grave!" Kushina revealed. "I can add Switchitter to my hand as well! I'll summon him, and use his effect to bring out the Glassjaw in my grave. Now, by skipping my Battle Phase, I can Special Summon Battlin' Boxer Sparrer. I now XYZ summon!"

"Good maneuvering!" Hassleberry praised. "She's not allowed to attack this turn anyway!"

"I'll use my three level four monsters to bring out Number 105: Battlin' Boxer Star Cestus. But he won't be out for long. I play the spell card Rank-Up Magic Barian's Force. By using the Rank 4 Star Cestus, I can bring out a Rank 5 monster!"

"Rank 5?!" Daniel exclaimed.

"You didn't know about this?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"Not at all. This must be a new idea. Ranking up monsters. I wonder how many cards like that are already planned."

"Yeah..." Naruto mused. "Will they do the same thing to Synchros? I'd like to see a more powerful version of Red Dragon Archfiend!"

"You and me both!" Daniel agreed.

"Come on out, Number C105: Battlin' Boxer Comet Cestus! Thanks to the second ability of Barian's Force, he steals an overlay unit from your Dracossack!" (2800 + 200*2 = 3200) (BAN 2400 + 200 = 2600) "I now activate his second effect! If he has Star Cestus equipped, he gets this effect. By removing the equipped Switchitter, he can destroy a monster my opponent controls, then deal damage equal to half his attack! I choose your Concoruda!"

"I told you she could do it!" Naruto cheered.

"Sorry, mademoiselle, but I have a trap. Safe Zone! It protects Concoruda from your effect destruction, as well as battle destruction!"

"Darn it!" Kushina swore. "I'll play a second The A. Forces! This stacks our attack gain!" (C105 2800 + 400 * 2 = 3600) (BAN 2200 + 400*2 = 3000). "I'll set two cards, your turn."

* * *

**Tag Pair 1:  
Crowler: LP 7000, Hand 3, S/T 'Ultimate Offering'/1, F 0, Monsters 0/1  
Minato: LP 8000, Hand 3, S/T 'The A. Forces (2 Warriors)'/0, Monsters 'Blade Armor Ninja (2OV)'/0**

"I guess it's my turn again," Crowler boasted. "First, I'll flip summon Geargiarmor. His flip effect lets me search out a Geargia monster in my deck. I choose Geargiaccelerator. Geargiaccelerator special summons itself."

"So that's why he put it into his barracks!" Hassleberry said.

"Now can can XYZ summon too!" Naruto said.

"Or even worse..." Daniel realized.

"I'll tribute my two monsters to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" (3000) "Geargiaccelerator's effect returns Geargiarmor to my hand. Battle, attack Kushina's Comet Cestus!"

"Why would he do that?" Syrus asked.

"I play my spell card Limiter Removal. It double's only Ancient Gear Golem's attack, since I don't control Bonaparte's monsters." (3000 *2 = 6000) "Your XYZ won't be destroying anyone by its effect!"

"I activate the effect of one Battlin' Boxer Counterpunch in my grave. It increases my Comet Cestus' atk by 1000." (3600 + 1000 = 4600)

"But it's not enough to save you!" Crowler said with glee, as Kushina lost her team 1400 LP.

"Are you alright Kushina?" Minato asked, worried for his tag partner.

"I'm fine. I've taken more than that before. Beat them up for me!"

"He won't be doing that yet. I pay 500 LP to set a monster. I'll set two cards, and end my turn. Since Limiter Removal affected Ancient Gear Golem, it's now destroyed. It's your move."

* * *

"My turn!" Minato cried, "DRAW!" He then smiles. "I got just the card I wanted! I summon Masked Ninja Ebisu. I now play Double Summon. This lets me Normal Summon an extra time this turn. I choose to summon Goe Goe the Gallant Ninja!" (BAN 2200 + 400*3 = 3400) (MNE 1200 + 400*3 = 2400) (GGGN 1500 + 400*3 = 2700)

"My my! That's a lot of powerful monsters!" Crowler worried. Since he had only one monster out, he was a likely choice for the attack target.

"I activate the effect of Ebisu. Since I have three Ninjas on the field, I can return three of your spells and traps to your hands and make Goe Goe able to attack directly! I choose Safe Zone, Ultimate Offering, and your set trap on the left!"

Now Crowler was worried. He could easily guess what was coming, and how many points of damage he'd take. "I play my spell card Emergency Provisions! By sending my Ultimate Offering to the grave, we gain 1000 LP."

"I now activate Blade Armor Ninja's effect! By detatching an overlay unit, Goe Goe may attack twice! Battle time!"

"Wait wait!" Crowler shrieked. "I have a trap! Magical Hats! I can mix my set monster with two spells or traps in my deck as set monsters. And I choose two Geartowns." Crowler then smirked. "Of course, when Geartown's destroyed, I can summon out a powerful Ancient Gear Monster."

"Good thing you weren't my target!" Minato revealed.

"Wha! Moi?" Bonaparte asked, a little frantic.

"Yes you! Blade Armor Ninja, attack his Concoruda!" Without his Safe Zone, Concoruda was destroyed and Bonaparte took 1000 damage. "Kushina, got anything to help me?"

"Yes I do! Trap activate, XYZ Reborn. I can summon an XYZ from my grave and attach this trap as an overlay unit. I chose Number 105: Battlin' Boxer Star Cestus." (N105 2500 + 400*4 = 4100) (BAN 2200 + 400*4 = 3800) (MNE 1200 + 400*4 = 2800) (GGGN 1500 + 400*4 = 3100)

"Ebisu, attack his Dracossack!"

"But why?" Bonaparte asked. "It can't be destroyed."

"But you still take damage," Minato reminded him, dealing a further hundred damage to the duo. "Now for Goe Goe's turn. First direct attack! Strike Bonaparte!"

"Aie!" Bonaparte yelled as he got whacked by Goe Goe's staff. Bonaparte was out cold.

"You're turn Crowler!"

"Nice try Mr. Uzumaki," Crowler spoke up, "but we'll still have 200 life points left. It was a nice effort."

"I activate the Skill Successor in my grave!" Minato announced. "By banishing it, Goe Goe gains 800 attack!"

"But that means..." Crowler said, startled.

"Game over!" Minato announced as Goe Goe attacked the Chancellor. Said attack made Crowler fall onto Bonaparte, also KO'd.

**Minato and Kushina win!**

"I knew you can do it!" Naruto shouted, embracing his parents.

"I knew we'd make it," Minato replied.

"Now we get to spend our time with our son Naruto and Sakura," Kushina announced gleefully. But this cheer made everyone look down, disheartened. "... Did something happen?"

"Let's get back to the Slifer Red Dorm first," Daniel said, leading the way. "We'll talk there."

* * *

**My first fully scripted duel! How did I do?**

**Congrats to Ryan L. Spradling for guessing half the surprise for this chap. But don't expect the parents to duel as much as the students.**

**Important Review Responses:**

**airnaruto45: I'm planning to wait til Alexis or Chazz is freed.**

* * *

**That's Game!**

**AnonymousGX**


	11. AN: Sad News

**Please don't Review to this chapter. Said reviews will be ignored until this chapter's replaced/updated with the real chapter, and I don't want to mix up reviews to this message with those for the real chapter. If you want to talk, and I'm able to answer, PM.**

**I have some bad news. As a member of the LDS faith, we go on a mission for our church for 2 years. Between the arrival of our calling letter and going on a mission, we are supposed to start living the standards of said calling. So that means that, once the missionary paper arrives, I'll either be rejected or accepted. If I'm accepted, then that means 2 years and a little more of hiatus, and I won't even be allowed to get on to tell you guys. ****So I'm announcing a soft hiatus with rare updates that may become a hard hiatus for 24 plus months.**

**But don't fear!**** Those that are patient ****will see these stories to the end!**** I ****WILL return**** and finish these! Before today, I had transferred all my DocXs on how I want my two unfinished stories to go onto my email and computer. So I won't lose any/all of my ideas for how they are going to go! ****_NOBODY is allowed to borrow, continue, or steal these stories! Loyal followers, I don't care if you see another person continuing this and you like it, report it! They have no idea of most, if not all, of my super plot twists!_****_ A 'Reading [my title]', however, may be interesting... PM me (even if I'm gone) so I'll know where to look for such a story._**** Inside these saves, I have the decklist for various duelists in Naruto GX; Red Moon and the basic plot, and for Sage Mode and Magic, I preserved all the planned x-over pairings, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows, 19 Years Later, Invasion of Pain, and the Ninja War, not necessarily in that order within my fanfic. Not even kidding, I've sketched SMaM that far ahead.**

**If my missionary letter comes early, and I'm accepted, keep that Follow box checked, and you'll know when these shelved items will return in force! _If the letter is late, I'll push this chapter back with each update._ If I'm excused from a mission, not likely, I'll remove this chapter from all of my stories.**

* * *

I just realized a small problem. Some people are PMing me that the story, while getting a 'new chapter update', only see this message. That's because **the real new chapter is one chapter back**. So, for those who missed the real chapters of Sage Mode and Magic # 21 and 22, or just clicked a link on a chapter update and saw this, go back one or two Prev buttons.


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